The Effect of Crude Protein and Metabolizable Energy Levels on the Growth Performance of Hungarian Bronze Turkeys Adapted in Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam

Abstract

A total of 270 Hungarian Bronze turkeys were put in a three x three factorial designs to determine the effect of crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME) on turkeys raised in Tra Vinh province. The first factor was CP, with three levels of 17, 19 and 21%. The second factor was ME, with three levels of 2600, 2800 and 3000 kcal/kg. The birds were fed and watered ad libitum throughout the experiment. The results showed that CP and ME had a positive effect on growth performance of turkeys, particularly the final live weight, feed intake, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (P<0.01). The best growth performance was observed in turkeys from the treatment of 21% CP and 2800 kcal/kg ME. At the age of 8 weeks, the highest final live weight of turkeys was 1570.1 g (21% CP) and 1485.7 g (2800 kcal/kg ME). Meanwhile, the best recorded FCR was 2.42 kg/kg (21% CP) and 2.48 kg/kg (2800 kcal/kg) (P<0.05). There was no significant interaction effect of CP and ME on any examined parameters. It can be concluded that Hungarian bronze turkeys rearing in Tra Vinh province achieved best performance with a diet of 21% CP and 2800 kcal/kg during the period of 4 to 8 weeks of age.