meat type turkey

In this experiment the effect of different amounts of lemon pulp in diet on performance, carcass traits and blood biochemical parameters of meat type turkeys was evaluated. A total of 96 bronze meat type turkeys from 16 to 26 weeks in 4 treatments and 4 replicates (6 birds per replicate) in a completely randomized design were used. Dried lemon pulp contained 8.23% (CP), 28.30% (CF), 0.61% (CA), 33% (P) and 1400 kcal/kg (ME). The amounts of lemon pulp were 0, 2, 4 and 6% in experimental groups. The highest amounts of daily feed intake (148.29 g), daily weight gain (47.86 g) and the best feed conversion ratio (3.09) were observed by using 6% Lemon pulp in diet, but had no observed any significant difference between treatments (P>0.05). Using increasing levels of lemon pulp in contrast to control group, decreased the amount of abdominal fat, so the lowest amount (1.48%) was obtained by using 6% lemon pulp (P<0.05). The amount of LDL (75.53 mg/dL) was higher the experimental groups (P<0.05), but they had no difference between experimental groups (P>0.05). Other evaluated parameters did not affect by using lemon pulp (P>0.05). The overall results indicated that in meat type turkeys from 16 to 26 weeks, using lemon pulp up to 6% of diets, without having any adverse effects on performance, decreased the amounts of abdominal fat and blood LDL.