UTILIZATION OF DIETARY TOWER RAPESEED PRODUCTS BY GROWING TURKEYS

Abstract

Four replicate groups of 22 male large white day-old poults were assigned to each of eight dietary treatments. These consisted of a corn–soybean meal control diet and isocaloric, isonitrogenous diets containing either 25% Target, high-glucosinolate, rapeseed meal (RSM), 25% Tower, low-glucosinolate RSM derived from two sources or 21.5% whole autoclaved Tower rapeseed plus three other treatments where 10% of oil derived from either soybean, Tower rapeseed or Target rapeseed was added. Dietary specifications were changed with age of bird. Weight gain and feed intake were recorded to 112 days of age. Target RSM resulted in a significant depression in weight gain and feed intake. Compared to the corn–soybean control, 25% Tower RSM and whole autoclaved Tower rapeseed, which supplied most of the dietary fat, had no effect on turkey performance. There was an indication that poults to 56 days of age were not able to fully utilize whole rapeseed. Performance of turkeys fed Tower rapeseed oil or soybean oil was similar, while Target oil significantly depressed weight gain. A perotic-type condition was observed in poults to 28 days of age when fed diets containing Target RSM. The condition was not observed in poults fed the other diets. It is concluded that both the oil and meal resulting from the processing of Tower rapeseed are superior in nutritional value to those obtained from Target rapeseed, and that these products may be included in turkey diets from day-of-age up to 10% for the oil and 25% for the meal, without adversely affecting performance.