Nutritional Investigations with Turkey Hens

BECAUSE all-inclusive diets are now commonly used for turkeys, quantitative information on the nutrient requirements is greatly needed in formulating optimum levels in practical rations. Apparently no published information is available on the calcium requirement of turkey breeder hens. The National Research Council (1960) recommended a level of 2.25%. An experiment was conducted to estimate this requirement and the results are reported here. One hundred and twenty Broad Breasted Bronze hens were randomly distributed into 12 pens of 10 hens each. Each pen was provided with one male, and all males were rotated from pen to pen weekly. Shavings were used for litter and the litter was not changed during the experiment. The hens were provided with 14 hours of light daily at 26 weeks of age, at which time they were also given the experimental rations. Composition of experimental diets is shown in Table 1. All experimental diets…