Efficacy of halofuginone as a coccidiostat for turkeys.

Large White male turkeys were raised to 20 wk of age on diets with varying kinds and levels of coccidiosis drug protection. Dietary treatments included unmedicated control (UMC), amprolium (AMP, 125 mg/kg), and 3 levels of halofuginone hydrobromide (HAL, during 0 to 4 and 4 to 8 wk of age, in 3.3; 3.1.5; and 1.5,1.5 mg/kg, respectively). Turkeys on these five treatments were exposed to coccidial oocysts at 14 days of age and again at 61 days of age; turkeys in an identical five treatments were not exposed until 61 days of age. At 28 days, nonexposed turkeys gained well and similarly, whereas exposed UMC showed poor growth and high mortality. At 56 days, regardless of exposure, UMC were lightest, AMP birds were intermediate, and birds in all HAL treatments were heaviest. Similarities in results of exposed and nonexposed birds suggests that nonexposed birds became exposed through tracking of oocysts in the room. Lesion scores of those challenged with oocysts at 61 days showed that all treatments had adequate resistance to coccidiosis. At 20 weeks of age, combining both exposure methods, birds fed HAL (dosage 3.1.5 or 1.5, 1.5 mg/kg) were significantly heavier than UMC and AMP treatments.

Use of peat as a bedding material and dietary component for tom turkeys.

In a study of turkeys over the period 0 to 3 wk of age, body weights of birds fed 5 or 15% dietary peat or carrier-type feed byproducts (rice hulls, sunflower hulls, peanut hulls, soybean mill feed. wood flour, and corn cobs) were compared to those of turkeys fed a diet composed primarily of corn and soybean meal. Turkeys fed 15% dietary peat or carriers showed a greater growth depression than those fed the diluents at the 5% dietary level. At the 5% peat or carrier level, growth was not significantly (P greater than .05) depressed when birds were fed rice hulls (body weight was 98.5% of control), peat (97.1%), sunflower hulls (96.9%), and peanut hulls (95.8%); growth was significantly depressed (P less than .05) when birds were fed corn cobs (93.1%), soybean mill feed (92.9%), and wood flour (92.8%). Peat, when used as a drying agent for liquid agricultural byproducts, would account for 2 to 4% of the diet. Results of this study suggest that peat as a carrier fed at the 5% level would minimally affect growth. In a market study male turkeys were raised on floor pens containing peat or wood shavings and fed 0, 5, or 10% reed-sedge peat as a diluent of a typical corn-soybean meal mash diet. Body weights of turkeys fed 5 or 10% dietary peat showed a slight growth depression on both litter materials, compared with control. Higher body weights (nonsignificant) were observed for turkeys on wood shavings compared with those on peat litter after 12 wk of age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)