THE REPRODUCTIVE-PERFORMANCE OF 2 GENETICALLY DISTINCT LINES OF MEDIUM WHITE TURKEY HENS WHEN FED BREEDER DIETS WITH AND WITHOUT A YEAST CULTURE CONTAINING SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE
J. Hayat et al., THE REPRODUCTIVE-PERFORMANCE OF 2 GENETICALLY DISTINCT LINES OF MEDIUM WHITE TURKEY HENS WHEN FED BREEDER DIETS WITH AND WITHOUT A YEAST CULTURE CONTAINING SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE, Animal feed science and technology, 43(3-4), 1993, pp. 291-301
The suitability of a breeder diet containing a yeast culture as a mean
s of improving the hen reproductive performance of two genetically div
ergent lines of Medium White turkeys for low (L) and high (H) semen ej
aculate volumes was investigated in two experiments. A total of 200 he
ns of lines L and H (n = 100 per line) were housed in a curtain-sided
breeder house (ten hens per line per pen). Starting at 31 weeks of age
(WOA), the hens were fed either corn-soya bean (CS) or com-soya bean
plus yeast (CS+Y, 0.5% Diamond V. Mills XP yeast culture, Saccharomyce
s cerevisiae) diets. Between 33 and 45 WOA (Experiment 1), the hens we
re mated inter se and from 45 to 51 WOA, reciprocal line matings were
established (Experiment 2). Hen reproductive parameters measured betwe
en 31 and 51 WOA were: body weight (BW) change, feed intake, feed per
dozen eggs, egg production, egg size, fertility, embryonic mortality,
and hatchability of fertilized eggs from seven biweekly egg settings.
Yeast culture supplementation of the diet did not influence (P > 0.05)
changes in BW, egg production, egg weight, embryonic mortality, and h
atchability of fertilized eggs (n = 5 biweekly hatches) of either line
. Significant time by line (P < 0.01) and time by diet interactions we
re evident only in feed intake. In Experiment 1 there was an improved
(P < 0.05) hen fertility in line H as a result of feeding the dietary
yeast culture. In Experiment 2, when the hens of both lines were insem
inated with semen of their reciprocal line, the hatch of fertilized eg
gs (n = 2 biweekly hatches) was substantially improved (P< 0.05) from
hens fed the yeast culture containing diet. The results of this study
suggest that there is a genetic factor associated with the feeding of
a diet containing a yeast culture to turkey breeder hens.