Effect of whole wheat dilution on performance and carcass characteristics of male turkeys

Field trials and published research suggest that it is possible to dilute commercial turkey and broiler chicken rations with whole wheat and suffer little or no loss in performance. It has been hypothesized that birds fed whole wheat have improved gizzard health and are able to self-select whole grain to better meet their individual nutritional needs. In 6 dietary treatments, the effect of diluting turkey diets with different amounts of whole and pelleted wheat was investigated. In the diets diluted with whole wheat, the whole wheat was blended with the other feed ingredients after they had been steam pelleted. In the diets diluted with pelleted wheat, the extra wheat used to dilute the rations was ground and then blended with the other ingredients prior to pelleting. The influence of adding extra synthetic amino acids to diluted diets was also studied. All diets were supplemented with a commercial feed enzyme. Dilution, without extra synthetic amino acid supplementation, resulted in large reductions in body weight, feed efficiency, and breast meat yield. At the highest level of dilution, where whole wheat dilution was 50% of the diet, body weight and weight of breast meat per bird were reduced by 15 and 20%, respectively. No advantage was observed in diluting with whole wheat compared with pelleted wheat. Addition of extra synthetic amino acids restored 66% of the body weight and 56% of the breast meat lost at the highest level of whole wheat dilution. These results suggest that reports of successful dilution of poultry rations are more likely due to formulation with excess nutrient levels of the undiluted diets rather than to a specific benefit to feeding whole grain.