Comparative development of antitrochanteric disease in male and female turkeys of a traditional line and a contemporary sire-line fed ad libitum or with restricted quantities of food.
The prevalence of musculoskeletal disease at eight, 16, 24, 34, 44 and 54 weeks of age in male and female turkeys was determined by dissecting 688 limbs from traditional lines and sire-line turkeys fed to achieve different bodyweights. Traditional turkeys were fed ad libitum and sire-line turkeys were fed ad libitum or restricted to 0.5 during rearing and subsequently to 0.8 of ad libitum-fed bodyweight of birds of the same strain and sex. A group of male sire-line turkeys was also fed ad libitum to 18 weeks and 0.8 of ad libitum thereafter. Lameness during the rearing period was usually associated with joint infection. Ruptured ligaments were an occasional finding in sire-line turkeys before sexual maturity. The major finding at 34, 44 and 54 weeks of age was degeneration of the antitrochanter in both sexes of the sire-line. The prevalence and severity of disease increased with age but was not generally associated with lameness. Antitrochanteric degeneration in the sire-line was diminished by decreasing bodyweight through food restriction. Antitrochanteric degeneration did not occur in traditional turkeys.