Effects of Feed Restriction During the Rearing Period and Age at Photostimulation on the Reproductive Performance of Turkey Hens

Abstract

An experiment with Nicholas parent-stock turkey breeder hens was designed to determine the effects of feed restriction during the rearing period and age at photostimulation on reproductive performance. Hens reared on ad libitum intake of conventional corn-soybean diets (ad libitum), skip-1-day per week (skip-1-day), and 95% of ad libitum (95%) were placed into cages and photostimulated when they reached a target body weight of 10 kg or at the conventional age of 29 wk. A 3 × 2 factorial design was used, with five replicates of three hens for each treatment. All birds were fed for ad libitum access during the breeding period. More eggs were set from 95% birds than from ad libitum or skip-1-day birds (P<.05); there was no difference between ad libitum and skip-1-day birds. Photostimulating based on 10 kg of BW versus 29 wk of age had no effect on total eggs set. There was no effect of rearing feed restriction on fertility or hatchability. Photostimulating based on 10 kg rather than 29 wk of age reduced fertility and hatchability (P<.05). The results of this study indicate that optimum reproductive performance is attained by restricting the feed consumption of turkey breeder hens to 95% of ad libitum during the rearing period. No benefits were gained from photostimulating at 10 kg of BW versus 29 wk of age.