Rendered by-products as soybean meal replacement in turkey rations

A study was conducted with 1600 toms to determine the efficacy of animal by-products (BP) as a replacement for soybean meal (SBM) in turkey rations. Feather meal, meat and bone meal, poultry BP meal, and blood meal were the BP utilized. Starter diets (0-4 wk) consisted of a control diet with 50% soy (0% BP meal) and SBM reduced in 10% increments (40, 30, 20% SBM), with BP meal as a protein replacement. All diets were formulated on an equal digestible amino acid basis. After the starter period, the birds were assigned to either a corn-SBM diet or a diet with 25% protein from BP. Toms displayed no significant differences in performance with any dietary treatments to 18 wk. BP treatments reduced growth slightly after this period.