Vorkommenshäufigkeit von pickverletzungen bei der haltung von putenhennen mit intakten und gekürzten schnäbeln in abhängigkeit von der proteinversorgung

In conventionally kept fattening turkeys, beak trimming is a common method to reduce skin damages due to cannibalism. In Germany it is planned not to grant exemptions for beak trimming in turkey hens from 2019. There are several hypotheses as to why domestic turkeys injuriously peck. However, very little is known about the abnormal behaviour in turkeys. One effect on the incidence of cannibalism is also attributed to the composition of feed, in particular the use of animal protein diets. This study represents the first attempt to examine the effects of dietary protein source and beak status on turkey hens housed under practical conditions. Therefore British United Turkeys hens (B.U.T. 6) were housed in four groups in a commercial barn during two fattening periods (n = 5080 turkeys). The beaks of the turkeys in two groups were trimmed whilst the beaks of the turkeys in the other two groups were not treated in each fattening period. One group of beak trimmed turkeys and one group of birds with intact beaks were provided with a diet that contained processed animal protein (haemoglobin powder and fish meal). The two other groups were fed with a commercial plant protein based diet. The results of the current investigation with animal protein diet did not reveal any effects on final body weight, mortality, pecking damage and cannibalism. In fact, pecking damage and the occurrence of cannibalism were significantly affected by the condition of the beak. In conclusion, the presented data of this orientating investigation show that the use of an animal protein based diet could not reduce damages caused by injurious pecking in turkeys.