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| “Wing Rap” by Dr. Teresa Morishita Question: Why is there a big difference in the sizes of my turkeys that are all the same age? In my flock of 20 turkeys, there are 3 turkeys that are much smaller than my other turkeys? What could be the cause since these small birds seem healthy? Answer: The size difference that you may be observing in your flock is due to the birds not growing at the same growth rate. Assuming that they all had equal access to food, different sized birds are often the result of an intestinal disease (or other disease) occurring in a couple of the birds. When there is some type of intestinal disease, the birds cannot absorb all of the nutrients and their growth is depressed. If this occurs over a period of time, then there can be a significant difference in the size of the birds. The smaller birds you are now observing have recovered from their intestinal disease but they can’t make-up the loss of weight gain when compared to the healthy birds. Teresa Y. Morishita, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACPV is a Professor and Extension Poultry Veterinarian in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. She is a board-certified poultry veterinarian and is also the Director of the Avian Disease Investigation Laboratory at The Ohio State University. She welcomes your questions and invites you to contact her at the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University, 1920 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210 or contact her through this website at www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/poultry/ |