RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LONG-BONE DISTORTION AND TIBIAL DYSCHONDROPLASIAIN MALE TURKEYS

To determine whether a relationship exists between long bone distortio n and tibial dyschondroplasia (TD), the hock joints of Large White com mercial male turkeys were examined using low intensity xray imaging (h and-held lixiscope). All lame birds with long bone distortion and 96 c ontrol birds without lameness were examined at 8.3 and 12.3 wk of age for TD lesions using a lixiscope. Results indicated that the incidence of TD was less than 2% at 8.3 wk of age. The incidence increased to 2 1% by 12.3 wk of age. The TD lesions at 12 wk of age were considered m ild covering only one-fourth of the growth plate. Chi-square analysis indicated that control turkeys without long bone distortion were just as likely to have TD lesions as were lame turkeys with long bone disto rtion. Under the conditions of the present experiment, TD did not appe ar to be a significant skeletal problem in Large White commercial male turkeys prior to 12.3 wk of age. Only 5 out of 37 (14%) toms with lon g bone distortion at 12.3 wk of age had TD lesions, suggesting that th e valgus-varus deformity may be independent of TD.