Effect of inorganic sulphate supplementation in fish meal free ration on growth performance of turkey broilers

An experiment was undertaken to evaluate the response of turkey broilers to inorganic sulphate supplementation with reference to body weight gain, feed consumption and feed conversion efficiency. A sixteen weeks (0–16 weeks) feeding trial was conducted involving one hundred and eighty turkey poults subjected to nine dietary treatments (T1 to T9). T1-fish meal free without sodium sulphate and lysine. T2, T3 and T4- fish meal free with 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4% sodium sulphate. T5-fish meal free without sodium sulphate but with lysine. T6, T7 and T8- fish meal free with lysine and 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4% sodium sulphate. T9-without sodium sulphate, without lysine but supplemented with fish meal (control group). The body weight gain of turkey broilers at 14 and 16 weeks of age in T4 (0.4% Na₂SO₄ without lysine) and T8 (0.4% Na₂SO₄ with lysine) increased significantly (P<0.05) as compared to fish meal supplemented group (T9). The feed consumption and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of birds in fish meal fed (T9) and fish meal free sodium sulphate supplemented diets (T2, T3, T4, T6, T7 and T8) were comparable. It may be concluded that addition of 0.40 per cent sodium sulphate (with or without lysine supplementation) to vegetable protein based fish meal free ration can give better growth performance in comparison to fish meal supplemented diet.