Dried Whey Product, Menhaden Fish Meal, Methionine and Erythromycin in Diets of Young Turkeys

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effects of adding dried whey product, menhaden fish meal, methionine and erythromycin to practical-type diets of young turkeys. In each of two eight-week experiments with the same design, 432 poults were divided into 24 groups and fed diets in a 2 × 2 × 3 × 2 factorial design. Eight-week body weights of turkeys were increased 2.6% from 5% added dried whey product, 9.3% from 5% added menhaden fish meal, and 6.2 and 7.3% from 0.2 and 0.4% added methionine, respectively. Erythromycin thiocyanate additions at 11.0 mg./kg. failed to increase body weight. The increase in body weight was nil when dried whey product was added to diets containing 5% fish meal and was 5.2% when added to diets containing no fish meal. These data indicate that a common growth factor is present in the menhaden fish meal at about 2.5 times the concentration present in the dried whey product. Although an interaction between methionine and dried whey product was observed, the methionine content of the dried whey product can not logically explain the increase in body weight.