An Attempt to Determine the Cause of Curled or Deformed Tongues in Young Beltsville White Turkeys

INTRODUCTION DURING recent years a deformity of the tongue in young turkeys (especially among the Small Whites) has caused considerable trouble to certain growers in several of the major turkey-producing areas in the United States. The deformity most generally observed is the curling or folding back of the distal end of the tongue onto the dorsal surface, this condition being noticed at a rather early age. Although there is seemingly only a small amount of mortality among turkeys because of this trouble, there is often considerable financial loss, especially in turkey broilers, due to retarded growth caused by the birds’ inability to eat normally. Many seem to believe that this deformity is caused by an amino acid deficiency in the poults’ diet. However, the condition frequently has been found among poults that have been fed apparently adequate rations. Hudson (1939) appears to have been the first to publish an account . . .