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PubMed1999

Welfare of food restricted male and female turkeys.

1. The welfare of male and female male-line turkeys fed ad libitum or food-restricted was determined at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 36(38) and 46(48) weeks of age using behavioural and physiological indices of well-being. Traditional turkeys fed ad libitum were kept as a control treatment. Restricted male and female male-line turkeys were fed to 0-5 during rearing and subsequently to 0-8 of sex-specific ad libitum-fed body weight. In another treatment, male-line males were fed ad libitum to 18 weeks and 0.8 of ad libitum thereafter. 2. Traditional turkeys and restricted male-line turkeys were more active than ad libitum-fed birds of both sexes. Restricted turkeys showed a high incidence of wall pecking. In the breeding period, about 0.4 of the observations of male-line males were of strutting behaviour whereas traditional male turkeys showed no strutting behaviour at the end of the breeding period. 3. The heterophil lymphocyte ratio (HLR) and the proportion of basophils were not increased in food-restricted turkeys. The HLR was relatively low in traditional birds, compared with male-line turkeys during the rearing period. 4. Plasma corticosterone concentrations were increased by food restriction during the rearing period. Corticosterone concentrations were relatively high in traditional turkeys at 4 and 8 weeks of age only. 5. Plasma lactate dehydrogenase (LIDH) activity was higher from 12 to 24 weeks of age in ad libitum-fed male-line turkeys and was consistent with mortality from cardiovascular disease in this group of turkeys. The pattern of activity of aspartate transaminase was similar, and alkaline phosphatase was inversely related to that of LDH. 6. It was concluded that turkeys may be better able to adjust physiologically to the demands of food restriction than broiler breeders and that there were few deleterious consequences of restricting male turkeys after 18 weeks of age. Male-line turkeys were less active than traditional turkeys.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2000

Morphometric and mechanical properties of femora in young adult male turkeys with and without femoral fractures.

Morphologic and torsional mechanical properties of femora were evaluated in three groups of turkeys to determine whether turkeys that incurred femoral fracture have different radiographic, morphologic, and torsional mechanical properties than do turkeys without femoral fracture, and if body weight was a factor differentiating affected and nonaffected turkeys. Nine turkeys with unilateral femoral fractures and nine turkeys without fractures from Farm A were compared with a group of nine age and genetically matched turkeys from Farm B. Turkeys from Farm A were 10 to 25% heavier (26.2+/-0.9 kg) and turkeys from Farm B were 10% lighter (18.2+/-0.9 kg) than expected breed standards. Femoral length, cortical thickness, medullary diameter, and diaphyseal curvature were measured from craniocaudal and lateromedial radiographs. One intact femur from each of five turkeys with a contralateral femoral fracture (Farm A), nine unaffected turkeys from Farm A, and nine turkeys from Farm B were subjected to failure in a torsion test. Geometric and mechanical results were compared. Turkeys from Farm A had a thicker cortex and a smaller medullary diameter than turkeys from Farm B. Turkeys from Farm A had significantly lower torsional stiffness and failure torque values compared with turkeys from Farm B, when differences in body weight were accounted for (analysis of covariance, P < 0.05). Mechanical failure torque calculated from geometric values suggests that organic or inorganic material arrangement and composition may be responsible, in part, for differences between groups. Femoral fractures may be associated with insufficient skeletal adaptation to heavy body weight.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Effects of Bordetella avium infection on the pulmonary clearance of Escherichia coli in turkeys.

Thirty-six 1-day-old turkeys were inoculated intranasally with Bordetella avium (BA) strain 838. Noninoculated hatchmates (n = 36) were housed separately. At 2 and 4 weeks of age, 15 inoculated (BA+) and 15 noninoculated (BA-) turkeys were exposed to an aerosol of virulent Escherichia coli. The remaining six BA+ turkeys and six BA- turkeys were used as controls (ie, not exposed to E coli). Turkeys were necropsied on postaerosolization days 0 (immediately after aerosolization), 1, 3, 5, and 7. Lung and tracheal specimens were collected from each turkey for bacterial quantitation and histologic examination. A 1-ml blood sample was collected for detection of bacteremia. Numbers of E coli in lung specimens from 2- and 4-week-old turkeys were not significantly different between BA+ and BA- groups (pooled data over time); however, numbers of E coli isolated from tracheal specimens were significantly greater in BA+ turkeys than those in BA- turkeys. Although the incidence of pulmonary abcesses and E coli bacteremia was greater in 2-week-old turkeys than in 4-week-old turkeys, the incidence was not different between BA+ and BA- turkeys. At both ages, air sacculitis developed more often and was more severe in BA+ turkeys than in BA- turkeys. Hyperplastic bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue was found more often in BA+ turkeys than in BA- turkeys and appeared to be the first site of heterophil infiltration after E coli aerosolization.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pathogenicity of West Nile virus for turkeys.

In the fall of 1999, West Nile virus (WNV) was isolated during an outbreak of neurologic disease in humans, horses, and wild and zoological birds in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Turkeys could potentially be a large reservoir for WNV because of the high-density turkey farming and the presence of large wild turkey populations in the eastern seaboard of the United States. Little is known about the pathogenicity of WNV in domestic or wild turkeys. Specific-pathogen-free 3-wk-old turkeys were inoculated subcutaneously with 10(3.3) mean tissue culture infective doses of a WNV strain isolated fromthe index case in a New York crow. No clinical signs were observed in the turkeys over the 21 days of the experiment. One turkey died abruptly at 8 days postinoculation (DPI). Many turkeys developed viremia between 2 and 10 DPI, but the average level of virus was very low, less than needed to efficiently infect mosquitos. Low levels of WNV were detected in feces on 4 and 7 DPI, but no virus was isolated from oropharyngeal swabs. WNV wasnot transmitted from WNV-inoculated to contact-exposed turkeys. All WNV-inoculated poults seroconverted on 7 DPI. In the turkey that died, WNV was not isolated from intestine, myocardium, brain, kidney, or cloacal and oropharyngeal swabs, but sparse viral antigen was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry in the heart and spleen. Turkeys in contact with WNV-inoculated turkeys and sham-inoculated controls lacked WNV specific antibodies,and WNV was not isolated from plasma and cloacal and oropharyngeal swabs. These data suggest that WNV lacks the potential to be a major new disease of turkeys and that turkeys will not be a significant amplifying host for infecting mosquitos.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Effects of photostimulation at 18, 24 and 30 weeks of age on the productivity of female turkeys fed ad libitum or restricted until point of lay.

1. Turkey females were fed ad libitum or restricted from 6 weeks of age to achieve mean body weights of 0.6 of ad libitum fed birds on photostimulation at 18, 24 or 30 weeks of age. Body weight, food intake, egg production and hatchability were recorded to 54 weeks of age. 2. Restricted turkeys were fed ad libitum after first egg or 36 weeks of age. Food intake after 30 weeks of age averaged 170 g/bird/d and was similar for all treatments. At 54 weeks of age, restricted turkeys photostimulated at 24 and 30 weeks were not as heavy as turkeys photostimulated at 18 weeks and ad libitum fed turkeys. 3. A large proportion of restricted turkeys photostimulated at 18 weeks of age did not commence lay until 30 to 40 weeks and a significant number of restricted birds photostimulated at 24 weeks had short laying cycles. Restricted birds photostimulated at 30 weeks came into lay and showed similar persistency of lay to ad libitum fed turkeys. 4. Ad libitum fed turkeys laid 115.0, 122.0 and 101.0 and restricted turkeys 92.4, 99.5 and 103.4 eggs when photostimulated at 18, 24 and 30 weeks, respectively. The number of non-settable eggs was lower in restricted compared with ad libitum fed turkeys and declined with age at photostimulation. 5. Egg size at the end of the experiment was similar for ad libitum fed turkeys and restricted birds photostimulated at 18 weeks but was 2.3 g lower for restricted birds photostimulated at 24 and 30 weeks of age. 6. Hatchability was higher, and the proportion of second quality poults was lower with eggs from restricted turkeys. The mean numbers of poults hatched were 59.9, 75.1 and 66.0 for ad libitum fed and 71.7, 65.7 and 79.4 for restricted turkeys photostimulated at 18, 24 and 30 weeks of age.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Staphylococcosis of turkeys. 5. Large-scale control programs using bacterial interference.

Staphylococcus epidermidis strain 115 was used as an interfering agent to reduce the incidence of staphylococcosis in turkeys. In 1984, the entire Utah turkey population of about 3 million turkeys was exposed at 1 to 10 days and at 4 to 6 weeks of age to aerosols of strain 115. Some staphylococcosis was still observed in range turkeys but appeared to be at a lower rate than in previous years. At processing, about 30% of the turkeys were still colonized with strain 115. A control study was carried out in 1985 to quantitate the level of reduction of staphylococcosis in turkeys treated with strain 115. About 1 million turkeys were treated, and 2 million remained untreated. Flocks from both groups were examined periodically for existing cases of staphylococcosis. Of 174,250 treated turkeys examined, 90 had staphylococcosis on the days examined, whereas 255 of the 183,500 untreated turkeys that were examined had staphylococcosis. Turkeys housed in range sheds had five times the incidence of staphylococcosis that turkeys in enclosed coops had. The gross mortality rate of 200,636 treated turkeys was 2.7% lower (P less than 0.001) than that of 189,450 untreated control turkeys that were monitored.

Aerosols↗
PubMed1980

Regional myocardial blood flow and cardiac function in a naturally occurring congestive cardiomyopathy of turkeys.

Round heart disease, a presumed viral myocarditis of turkeys, provides a unique opportunity for the study of congestive cardiomyopathy. Regional myocardial blood flow and cardiac output measurements were made in nine, 19 to 34 day old anaesthetised birds using 141Ce labelled microspheres (15 micron diameter). Atrial, right ventricular and weighted-average left ventricular myocardial blood flow values were similar in control (n = 5) and round heart disease (n = 4) turkeys. The left ventricular subendocardial/subepicardial blood flow ratio of 0.89 +/- 0.02 (mean +/- SE) in round heart disease birds was, however, reduced compared with the value of 1.19 +/- 0.09 in the control birds (P < 0.05). Round heart disease turkeys also had lower systemic pressures and lower cardiac outputs when compared with control birds. M-mode echocardiograms were obtained in 42 unanaesthetised 17 to 37 day old turkeys, 34 control and eight with round heart disease. Echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular dysfunction characterised by left atrial and left ventricular dilation and a markedly reduced left ventricular shortening fraction was found in round heart disease turkeys. Paradoxical motion of the interventricular septum was present in two of eight round heart disease turkeys but in none of the control turkeys. The interventricular septum/left ventricular posterior wall ratio in control and round heart turkeys were similar. Although the body weight of control and round heart disease turkeys were similar, and the diastolic thickness of the left ventricular wall were not substantially different, the ventricular weight/body weight ratio in round heart disease turkeys was increased approximately 52%. The increased ventricular weight was not due to myocardial oedema, as myocardial water content was similar in control and round heart disease turkeys. The features which characterise round heart disease in turkeys: left atrial and left ventricular dilatation, reduced left ventricular shortening fraction, systemic hypotension, low cardiac output, relative subendocardial underperfusion, and an increase in ventricular mass, make it a useful model for congestive cardiomyopathy.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Interaction between ambient temperature and supplementation of synthetic amino acids on performance and carcass parameters in commercial male turkeys.

An experiment with male turkeys was conducted to test the hypothesis that turkey production performance responds positively to extra crystalline amino acid supplementation (lysine, methionine, and threonine) when subjected to a high ambient temperature regimen (HT) in the grower period. Two diets were formulated to provide lysine, methionine, and threonine concentrations that either 1) met the breeder recommendations or 2) contained 10% higher lysine and methionine concentrations from 22 to 134 d of age and 10% higher threonine concentration from 22 to 68 d of age. Both diets were fed at two temperatures (15 or 25 C) from 42 d of age onward. At 134 d of age, turkeys on the HT had generally lower BW than those on the low temperature regimen (LT). Up to 68 d of age and from 106 to 134 d of age, feed intake of turkeys on the HT was significantly lower than that of turkeys on the LT. Up to 42 d of age, feed conversion ratio (FCR) of turkeys on the HT were significantly lower than those of turkeys on the LT. Significant treatment interactions were observed from 22 to 41 d of age. Turkeys fed the amino acid-supplemented diets on the LT had significantly reduced FCR, whereas those on the HT did not respond. From 69 to 105 d of age, turkeys on the HT that were fed the supplemented diets had significantly increased FCR, but there were no dietary effects among turkeys on the LT. There were no consistent diet effects on growth performance or carcass yields. Breast meat yields of turkeys on the LT were higher (33.5 vs 32.1%), and drum yields were lower (12.7 vs 13.0%), than those of turkeys on the HT. There were no significant amino acid balance x ambient temperature effects on processing yields. The hypothesis of this experiment could be rejected as production performance did not respond positively to extra supplementation of lysine, methionine, and threonine when subjected to an HT.

Aging↗
PubMed2005

Effect of semen extender and density gradient centrifugation on the motility and fertility of turkey spermatozoa.

In the absence of commercially viable methods for cryopreserving turkey spermatozoa, new processing methods are required to extend the functional life of stored turkey spermatozoa for artificial insemination. The present study evaluates the efficacy of a new extender (Turkey Semen Extend) and investigates the use of density gradient centrifugation in processing turkey spermatozoa for artificial insemination. The new extender is compared with two commercially available turkey semen extenders, Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender and Ovodyl. Turkey spermatozoa in Turkey Semen Extend were still motile 20 h after collection, representing a considerable improvement over the other semen extenders (40%, 0% and 8% for Turkey Semen Extend, Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender and Ovodyl, respectively). A field trial on a commercial turkey farm showed improved fertilization rates following insemination of turkey hens with semen extended in Turkey Semen Extend (89.7%) compared with Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender (86.9%). This difference is statistically significant (p < 0.05). Processing on a density gradient, optimized for turkey spermatozoa, also increased sperm survival (50% gradient-prepared spermatozoa still motile after 18 h compared with <10% non-processed spermatozoa). Preliminary studies indicate that gradient preparation of spermatozoa may aid survival during cryopreservation.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Serological and microbial survey of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) from six western states.

From 1986 to 1989, sera from wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo), including three subspecies (M. gallopavo intermedia, M. gallopavo merriami and M. gallopavo mexicana) trapped in six western states were tested for antibody to Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) (n = 724), M. synoviae (MS) (n = 461) and M. meleagridis (MM) (n = 354) using the rapid plate agglutination (RPA) assay. Subsamples of these sera were also evaluated using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay for antibody to MG (n = 664) and MS (n = 403). Attempts were made to isolate mycoplasmas by swabbing the trachea and cloaca of 190 live wild turkeys and from various tissues (sinus, nasal turbinates, trachea, lung, ovaries and oviduct) from 76 turkeys at necropsy. Isolates were identified using an immunobinding assay. Seroprevalence of MG, MS and MM in the RPA test was highly variable among years and geographic sites, ranging from 0 to 85%, 0 to 87%, and 0 to 83%, respectively, for each mycoplasma species. Of the 724 wild turkey sera tested, 200 (28%) were positive using the RPA assay, while only 20 (3%) of 664 sera tested using the HI assay were positive (at a titer greater than/= 1:80) for antibody to MG. Of the 461 sera tested 178 (39%) were RPA positive for MS, whereas none of the 403 samples tested by HI were positive for MS. Antibody to MM was detected in 72 (20%) of 354 turkey sera tested by RPA. Mycoplasmas were cultured from 81 (30%) of 266 wild turkeys, including 48 that were sampled live and 33 that were examined by necropsy. Mycoplasmas were isolated from every population in which culture was attempted. M. gallopavonis (MGP) was isolated from 37 (46%) of 81 birds which yielded mycoplasma, representing seven of 12 populations sampled. MG was isolated from lower respiratory tissues of one Rio Grande wild turkey trapped in Texas. M. synoviae was isolated from five of 16 Merriam's wild turkeys trapped in Arizona. Sera of birds from which MG or MS was isolated were positive to the respective antigen in the RPA test, but were negative by the HI assay. The RPA test was effective in identifying MG and MS infected turkeys despite lack of confirmation by the HI test. These data suggest that apparently healthy wild turkeys can carry pathogenic mycoplasmas and the currently used field test (RPA) can identify culture positive wild turkeys. Serological screening using the RPA test should be conducted on all wild turkeys prior to relocation.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Detection of antibody to turkey coronavirus by antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay utilizing infectious bronchitis virus antigen.

An antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of antibody to turkey coronavirus (TCV) utilizing infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) antigen was developed. Anti-TCV hyperimmune turkey serum and normal turkey serum were used as positive or negative control serum for optimization of the ELISA system. Goat anti-turkey immunoglobulin G (light plus heavy chains) conjugated with horseradish peroxidase was used as detector antibody. The performance of the ELISA system was evaluated with 45 normal turkey sera and 325 turkey sera from the field and the cutoff point was determined. Serum samples of turkeys experimentally infected with TCV collected sequentially from 1 to 63 days postinfection were applied to the established antibody-capture ELISA using IBV antigens. The optimum conditions for differentiation between anti-TCV hyperimmune serum and normal turkey serum were serum dilution at 1:40 and conjugate dilution at 1:1600. Of the 325 sera from the field, 175 were positive for TCV by immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) assay. The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA relative to IFA test were 93.1% and 96.7%, respectively, based on the results of serum samples from the field turkey flocks using the optimum cutoff point of 0.18 as determined by the logistic regression method. The ELISA values of all 45 normal turkey sera were completely separated from that of IFA-positive sera. The ELISA results of serum samples collected from turkeys experimentally infected with TCV were comparable to that of the IFA assay. Reactivity of anti-rotavirus, anti-reovirus, anti-adenovirus, or anti-enterovirus antibodies with the IBV antigens coated in the commercially available ELISA plates coated with IBV antigens could be utilized for detection of antibodies to TCV in antibody-capture ELISA.

Animals↗