Various Impacts of Mycotoxins on Turkey Health and Performance

The objective of the trial was to show the negative impact of contamination with deoxynivalenol(DON,vomitoxin)in turkey poults feed and the ability of three mycotoxin deactivators to minimise DON effects in vivo.1596 one-day-old Hybrid tom turkeys were randomly placed into 38 floor pens(42 poults/pen).Each pen was assigned to 1 of 5 treatments in a randomized complete block design with each pen blocked by room and location within a room.Basal feed was prepared using uncontaminated or naturally contaminated maize.The treatments were then added to a standard turkey starter diet.Control group was fed uncontaminated diet.DON group was fed diet contaminated with 9,120μg/kg DON.Third group was fed diet contaminated with 9,120μg/kg DON and treated with UNIKE?Plus.Fourth group was fed diet contaminated with 9,120μg/kg DON and treated with Product A and the last group was fed diet contaminated with 9,120μg/kg DON and treated with Product B.The turkeys fed the UNIKE?PLUS treatment consumed more feed compared to those that were fed the DON contaminated diet(P<0.05).However,the feed consumption of birds fed Products A or B was not different from the DON treatment(P>0.10).With higher average daily feed intake,birds assigned to the UNIKE?PLUS treatment had a higher average daily gain and a higher final body weight compared to the DON treatment(P<0.10).The rate of average daily gain and body weight of turkeys fed the other 2 additives(Products A or B)were not different from the DON diet.There were no statistically significant differences in feed efficiency between treatments.This experiment demonstrated the negative influence that DON(and possibly other trichothecenes)has on feed consumption and the subsequent impact this has on the FCR and growth in young turkey poults.The mycotoxin deactivator UNIKE?PLUS reduced these negative effects and clearly performed better than the other two common brands of mycotoxin deactivators.