The Effect of Dietary Energy on the Protein Requirements of Growing Turkeys

Abstract

DIETARY energy level is closely related to efficiency of feed utilization. Scott et al. (1947) demonstrated that chick diets which were high in energy promoted more rapid growth and more efficient feed conversion than did chick diets which contained relatively lower levels of energy. Scott, Heuser and Norris (1948) found that as the protein level of a poult starter diet was increased, it was necessary to increase the dietary energy level and the unidentified vitamin content of the diet if the most rapid growth and the most efficient feed conversion were to be obtained.As stabilized fats and greases became more readily available for use as fat supplements in poultry feeds, more intensive studies were undertaken to determine the interrelationship between energy and the protein levels in diets for chickens and turkeys, (Combs and Romoser, 1955; Leong et al., 1955; Matterson et al., 1955; Donaldson et al., 1955, 1956, 1957;…