Growth rate and acid-base balance in turkeys fed a silage-containing diet modified by different dietary cation-anion difference

Abstract

One of alternative foods for broiler turkeys might be inexpensive corn silage added to the typical formula. Although the addition of corn silage to the daily meal is well accepted by turkeys, the growth rate, according to our observations, is diminished. So far, very little attention has been paid to the manipulation of DCAD in growing turkeys. Since one of the causes of the growth rate suppression by silage may be a deviation in DCAD, we sought to determine whether lowering or increasing these values may improve the performance of growing young turkeys. It is known that in other species a higher DCAD stimulates the apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of protein and dry matter, but concomitantly the maintenance energy expenditure (MEm) is also higher (20,22). At least in some species, a lower acidic content and high potassium in the diet enhance both bone accretion and bone health. Seemingly, Kim et al. (14) discovered that, in opposition to chloride, cation supplementation alleviates the lysine-arginine antagonism in chicks.Hitherto, our attention in broilers has been focused on the specific effects of cations and anions in the diet (1, 13, 17, 23). Our aim was to determine the responses of turkeys to a corn silage diet with different values of DCAD and to draw attention to the possible usefulness of this kind of ingredient in turkey farming. Moreover, since the dietary intake has been shown to influence the acid-base balance (ABB), our studies were aimed at clarifying the response of ABB-parameters in turkeys fed a corn silage diet with different DCAD. To obtain Compared to the control group, the anion gap was insignificantly lower in birds exposed to the acidic diet, and was comparable to the decrease in HCO 3 -. Conversely, the addition of NaHCO 3 to the diet led to a marked elevation in HCO 3 -to 29.63 ± 0.4 mEq/L in group D and to 30.3 ± 0.69 mEq/l in group E. In conclusion, a change in DCAD during the feeding of forage containing CS exerts stimulatory effects on productive parameters of turkeys.

Growth Rate and Bone Hydroxyproline Concentration in Turkeys Fed with a Silage-Composed Diet Modified with Different Diet Cation–Anion Differences (DCADs)

“…On the other hand, stimulatory responses of anionic salts in our turkeys’ BWs contrast with the data from broiler chicks provided by Kim et al [ 16 ]. However, as it was mentioned in our previous study, the possibility that chloride can reduce feed intake refers only to a state of abnormal lysine levels when chloride violates the tissue patterns of basic amino acids, resulting in a decreased appetite [ 1 ]. Moreover Adedokun et al showed that birds fed with a diet containing a high level of DCAD consumed less feed than birds on a low DCAD diet [ 17 ].…”

“…The DCAD values were analyzed as described previously [ 1 , 10 ]. In brief, for the analysis of diet Na, Ca, K, Mg, and S contents, an ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer) equipped with a charge-injection device (CID) detector was used.…”

“…Blood was drawn directly from the syringes into a blood gas/electrolyte analyzer (ABL80 Flex, Radiometer, Copenhagen, Denmark) for an immediate analysis of the pH value. The pH values were corrected to reflect a body temperature of 41.5 °C [ 1 ].…”

“…One alternative food for broiler turkeys might be the incorporation of inexpensive corn silage to the typical formula [ 1 ]. The addition of corn silage to the daily meal is well accepted by turkeys.…”