A Study of Certain Environmental Factors and Mineral Chelation on the Reproductive Performance of Young and Yearling Turkey Hens

Abstract

The study presented was designed to determine the effects of laying cages and conventional litter floors, pen temperatures of 12.8°, 21.1° and 29.4° C, and chelated (EDTA-Zn) vs. nonchelated trace mineral mixes on the reproductive performance of yearling force-molted and young Large White female turkeys.Reproductive performance, as measured by egg production, settable eggs, fertility and hatchability of fertile eggs, was not significantly different between young and yearling hens. Females fed a chelated trace mineral mix had a higher percentage of settable eggs, greater feed consumption and thicker egg shells. Females in laying cages laid at a higher rate, ate more feed, and weighed more than those on conventional floors. Significant differences were not observed between the two pen environments for hatchability of fertile eggs or egg weight. The percentages of settable eggs and of fertile eggs were lower when females were maintained in cages.A constant temperature of 29.4° C. reduced egg production below that obtained from females maintained at 12.8° and 21.1° C. The high pen temperature also caused lower body and egg weights, more birds out of production and an increased incidence of molting. Feed consumption decreased with increasing pen temperatures. Fertility, hatchability, percentage of settable eggs and egg shell thickness were unaffected by the imposed temperature environments. Temperatures of 12.8° and 21.1° C. yielded comparable results for all reproductive parameters measured. Within the range of temperatures studied, results obtained suggest that optimum reproductive performance can be obtained with breeder turkeys when environmental temperatures are maintained between 12.8° and 21.1° C.