Experimental aspergillosis was induced in 1-day-old turkeys by intra-air-sac inoculation of a spore suspension of a 3-day-old Aspergillus fumigatus culture (CBS 144.89) containing 10(7) spores. Ten additional poults were used as controls. Infected and non-infected animals were closely observed at least twice a day for the appearance of clinical signs and were sequentially sacrificed at days 1, ...

A cDNA encoding the long form of the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) leptin receptor (LEPR) was cloned and sequenced. Turkey LEPR showed greater than 90% sequence identity at both the nucleotide and amino acid level with chicken LEPR. The LEPR gene (long form) encodes a protein of 1147 amino acids that has features similar to other LEPRs including: a signal peptide, a single transmembrane domain, ...

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of rearing systems on reproductive performance of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). A total of 180 Beltsville Small White and Board Breasted Bronze turkeys were taken for the study and reared under three different rearing system viz. intensive system (full confinement), semi-intensive system (partial confinement and partial day scavenging) and...

In a long term research project in Germany the influence of husbandry on the health of fattening turkeys (Study 1) as well as the influence of practiced rearing conditions on the health of turkey poults (Study 2) was examined in 24 farms and at the meat processing plant. In all examined rearing farms, litter samples for the determination of litter moisture were taken. This paper summarizes the ...

The immunological performance of modern turkeys (one-third each of the Nicholas Turkey, British United Turkeys of America, and Hybrid Turkey strains) hatched in 2003 (2003 strain) was compared with that of a randombred control turkey strain (RBC2) established in calendar year 1966, when fed representative 1966 and 2003 type diets. The 2003 strain had a higher BW and bursa of Fabricius weight re...

Proteins are the main participants in metabolic pathways. However, the analysis of protein abundance patterns associated with those pathways is complicated by the large number of proteins involved. In this study, the objective was to present the application of principal component analysis (PCA) to permit the visualization of developmental proteomic patterns of sarcoplasmic proteins found in bre...

The effects of starvation and refeeding of 2-wk-old turkey poults on serum and tissue levels of zinc, copper and iron were investigated. Serum concentrations of zinc and copper declined during 4 d of starvation. Refeeding for 24 h following a period of starvation restored serum copper to levels similar to those in the fed controls but failed to elevate zinc levels. Liver concentrations and tota...