The Effect of Low Protein and Skip-a-Day Grower Diets on the Subsequent Performance of Turkey Breeder Hens

Two experiments were conducted utilizing a total of 720 Marston Broad-white females (hatched late December and July). The day old poults were equally divided among 18 floor pens and fed a turkey starter (27.8% protein) from 0–10 weeks of age. One-third of the birds was assigned to each of the following feeding regimes: control grower (21% protein ad libitum), low protein (10.2% protein ad libitum), or skip-a-day (75% of control grower). All birds remained on these treatments through 24 weeks of age when the control group was placed on a commercial-type breeder diet (16.6% protein); six weeks later the remaining treatment groups were changed to this diet. Feed consumption and body weights were consistently greater for the control group. In all cases, regardless of season of the year or whether the birds were cage or floor reared, the age at sexual maturity was significantly delayed for the restricted birds as compared to the controls. Subsequent egg production tended to be greater in the restricted groups even when the initial two 28-day periods (while the two restricted groups were still on treatment) were included. Egg weight was not affected by treatment; however, it should be noted that the control group laid a much larger number of eggs that were considered too small for setting. It was concluded that nutrient restriction during the growing period is a highly effective method of delaying sexual maturity in the turkey breeder hen and, in addition, reduces production costs. It is hypothesized that any reasonable method of nutrient restriction will be effective if the program is designed to bring a hen to sexual maturity at a specific weight and age.