Einfluss unterschiedlicher Fütterungsintensität und Haltungsform auf die Mastleistung und den Schlachtkörperwert von langsam oder schnell wachsenden Genotypen in der ökologischen Putenmast Effect of different feeding intensity and housing condition on growth performance and carcass yield of slow- or fast-growing genotypes in organic turkey production

Summary Effect of different feeding intensity and housing condition on growth performance and carcass yield of slow- or fast-growing genotypes in organic turkey production A feeding experiment was carried out with male turkeys in two subsequent trials (four fattening phases/trial) with 192 chickens per trial. Turkeys of two different genotypes (KELLY-BBB vs. Big 6) were fed with two different feed mixtures (variant M: medium with approx. 12 MJ AME/kg vs. variant L: low with approx. 11 MJ AME/kg) and reared under two different housing systems (with outdoor-access vs. without outdoor-access) during 21 weeks. The feeding mixtures contained reduced AME and essential Amino acids (AA) contents – at a constant ratio of AA:AME. The aim of the study was to clarify genotype-environment interactions on performance and carcass characteristics. In the rearing phase, the chickens were kept in an air-conditioned closed house. In the fattening phases they were kept in mobile houses (with and without outdoor-access).Average losses of 21% were recorded, which happened predominantly in the rearing phase and at the end of the fattening phase. Frequent loss reasons were heart attacks, which mainly affected the animals without outdoor-access. The Big 6 strain showed a significantly higher fattening performance and higher carcass yield than the BBB strain. However, there was no difference in feed efficiency. Big 6 turkeys exhibited significantly higher carcass weights than BBB turkeys (carcass weight + 3.5 kg; chest amount + 1.5 kg). At the end of the fattening period, the turkeys with outdoor-access had significantly higher final weights than the animals without outdoor-access.