ECONOMICAL EFFICIENCY IN TURKEY NUTRITION

M. Kenny1, J. Ralph (1) and H. Glawatz (2)
1 - Aviagen Turkeys Ltd, Chowley Five, Chowley Oak Lane, Tattenhall, Chester CH3 9GA United Kingdom
2 - Moorgut Kartzfehn von Kameke GmbH & Co KG, Germany
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INTRODUCTION
Economical feed efficiency is critical in terms of meeting the financial objectives of the turkey enterprise. This has never been more important given the volatility of the raw material market and lack of consistent supply of materials. In recent years feed cost has increased, as a proportion of total cost to the enterprise, from 65% to 70% of the total cost of turkey production. In such situations, it is critical that nutritionists can make informed decisions in order to choose the most efficient feeding programme for different economic circumstances. This must be considered within the context of an ever-changing growing environment where the turkey’s response to a given feeding regime is influenced by health challenges, environmental constraints, and increased removal of antibiotics and, in some cases, removal of coccidiostats.

REVENUE DRIVERS
Any feeding programme needs to take into account the revenue drivers of the operation. The majority of turkeys grown in Europe are processed into portions. Breast meat, in the majority of countries, is the most valuable part of the turkey carcass (Noll, 2001). While breast meat only contributes 26-28% of the weight of the bird, it represents 60-70% of the income from the carcass in most European countries (Hammond, 2006). There have been significant advances in breast meat development as selection by breeders for this trait has intensified. Typical breast meat improvement over the last 10 years is estimated at 1.6% (Noirault, 2014) and the annual rate of improvement is increasing and now estimated to be approximately +0.2% per annum. It is of economic importance to exploit this genetic potential and maximize the growth of breast meat in terms of the weight of breast meat per bird and the percentage that is takes up in the carcass (Noirault, 2015). An economic feeding programme must minimise feed cost but at the same time maximise output as efficiently as possible for both a farm situation and end processed product perspective.

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