The Effect of Calorie-Protein Ratio of the Ration on Growth and Feed Efficiency of Turkeys

Abstract

L. S. Jensen, 1955. Effect of protein level and tallow on growth response of poults to sources of unidentified factors. Poultry Sci. 34: 1215-1216. Robertson, E. I., R. F. Miller and G. F. Heuser, 1948. The relation of energy to fiber in chick rations. Poultry Sci. 27: 736-741. Siedler, A. J., and B. S. Schweigert, 1953. Effect of feeding graded levels of fat with and without E XPERIMENTAL data have shown that there is a need for a suitable balance between energy and protein in poultry rations for optimum efficiency and that rations high in energy content tend to promote more rapid growth as well as better feed conversion (Scott et al., 1947;Biely and March, 1954;Combs and Romoser, 1955;Matterson et al., 1955;and Patterson, 1955). Baldini and Rosenberg (1955) extended this work and showed that an amino acid, methionine, was required in greater amounts in the diets as the energy level of the diet was increased. Sunde (1956) showed that rations high in protein and low in energy reduced growth and efficiency of feed utilization.Although more work has-been done with chickens than with turkeys, several reports have recently been published concerning the optimum Calorie-protein ratio for turkeys (Lockhart and Thayer, 1955;Atkinson et al., 1956;Ferguson et al., 1956;and Waibel, 1956). In general these workers obtained best results when poults (0-8 weeks) were fed rations containing high levels of energy and protein, with the most desirable Calorie-protein ratio (productive choline and antibiotic +Bi 2 supplements to chicks. Poultry Sci. 32: 449-454. Siedler, A. J., and B. S. Schweigert, 1955. Effects of different grades of animal fats on the performance of chicks. Poultry Sci. 34: 411-414. Sunde, M. L., 1956. A relationship between protein level and energy level in chick rations. Poultry Sci. 35: 350-354. Calories per pound for each 1% of protein) ranging from 27:1 to approximately 31:1. Supplementary fat along with additional protein was necessary for optimum growth rate. At least part of the beneficial effect obtained from fat supplementation of poult rations can be attributed to increased density and its effect on palatability as evidenced by such reports as that of Pepper et al. (1956), who reported a beneficial effect as a result of adding fat to poult rations containing 28% protein. However, if the ration was pelleted, supplementary fat did not increase the growth rate. More recently, Donaldson et al. (1956) showed that the Calorie-protein ratio for chicks was influenced by the energy level of the ration, being narrow for low energy diets and wide for high energy diets. As the proportion of Calories from dietary fat to those from other sources increased, a wider Calorieprotein ratio was tolerated without adversely affecting growth.Growing turkeys (8-16 weeks) may be able to tolerate a greater range in the Calorie-protein ratio than poults, according to the results reported by Carter and Wyne (1956). In two trials, using Large

Protein Requirements of Fast Growing Strains of Large White and Broiler Type Turkeys

“…A GREAT deal of work has been reported on the protein and energy requirements of turkeys for various ages (Blaylock et ah, 1954;Carter et ah, 1957;Day and Hill, 1957;Carlson et ah, 1962;Jensen et ah, 1965;and Summers et ah, 1965). A GREAT deal of work has been reported on the protein and energy requirements of turkeys for various ages (Blaylock et ah, 1954;Carter et ah, 1957;Day and Hill, 1957;Carlson et ah, 1962;Jensen et ah, 1965;and Summers et ah, 1965).…”

Independent Effects of Dietary Metabolizable Energy and Protein Concentrations on Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Tom Turkeys

“…The importance of maintaining desirable energy-toprotein ratios, as suggested by Combs and Romoser (1955), has been a commonlyaccepted principle of poultry nutrition. Several reports, however (Day and Hill, 1957;Balloun et al, 1959;Touchburn and Naber, 1966), indicated that widely varying ME-to-protein ratios could be used without adversely affecting performance of growing turkeys. Data presented by Jensen et al (1970) and Waibel (1978) showed that when various combinations of protein and ME concentrations were fed, significant main effects of protein and ME were observed, but that no protein X ME level interaction occurred.…”