GROWTH AND INTESTINAL MORPHOLOGY OF MALE TURKEYS AS INFLUENCED BY DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF AMYLASE AND XYLANASE

Three diets, a control and two diets supplemented with an enzyme cockt ail premix containing either amylase or xylanase, were each fed to 100 male poults (10 replicates of 10 poults per pen) from 0 to 5 wk of ag e to observe the effects upon body weight gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency. The amylase-supplemented diet significantly increased feed efficiency through the first 2 wk and significantly increased body we ight gain and feed intake through the first 3 wk. Xylanase supplementa tion did not improve growth or feed efficiency over the control. Mean villus length within the jejunum and ileum was significantly increased at 2 and 3 wk of age by dietary supplementation of amylase when compa red with the control and xylanase diets. These findings suggest that t he increased growth associated with the amylase diet during 0 to 3 wk can, in part, be explained by the increase in absorptive surface area, allowing for increased digestion of available nutrients coupled with increased enzyme activity for carbohydrate degradation from the supple mental enzymes.