Effects of brooding periods on performance of poults and grow-out small bronze turkeys in hot humid tropical environment.

A study was conducted to determine the effects of varied brooding regimes on the performance of small bronze turkey poults and their grow-outs. One hundred and twenty (n = 120) poults were subjected to four brooding regimes of 0-5, 0-6, 0-7, and 0-8 weeks, designated as T1, T2, T3, and T4. Each brooding regime (treatment) was applied to 3 replicates of 10 poults/replicate in a completely randomized design. The feed intake of T1 poults was higher (P < 0.05) than that of the T2, T3, and T4 groups. There was no difference in the daily weight gain among all treatment groups. The T1 poults had a higher (P < 0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR) than the T4 poults while the T1, T2, and T3 had similar FCR. The T1 group also had the highest feed/heating cost (USD 2.14) while the T4 recorded the lowest feed/heating cost (USD 2.01) resulting in 5.86% reduction in feed/heating cost. There were no differences in performance of the grow-out turkeys in all the production parameters measured, as well as in the feed cost per kilogram weight gain of the treatment groups. This result shows that small bronze-type turkeys brooded from 0 to 8 weeks had higher efficiency in terms of feed intake, FCR, and lower economic costs compared to those brooded from 0 to 5, 0-6, and 0-7 weeks at the poult stage. However, at grow-out stage, the period of brooding did not have any effects on their performance.