HEPATIC LIPIDOSIS IN TURKEYS

Two flocks of 14,000 twenty-week-old turkey hens each experienced incr eased mortality due to hepatic lipidosis. Some hens showed signs of dy spnea and cyanosis before death. Necropsy revealed dark muscles and en larged livers with pale areas and numerous hemorrhages. Petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages were also found on the abdominal fat and epicar dium. Lung congestion and edema were prominent. In the heart and blood vessels, the blood was uncoagulated. Mortality was elevated for 12 da ys and resulted in the death of 0.7% of the turkey hens in one flock a nd 1.7% in the other. Vitamin E administered in water at a dose of 25 IU per hen appeared to reduce mortality. The nutritional and environme ntal factors that may contribute to the development of hepatic lipidos is in turkeys are discussed.