Meat production efficiencies of turkey, chicken and duck broilers

Abstract

Comparison of the efficiencies of meat production between chickens, turkeys and ducks at 7 weeks of age indicates that although the turkey broiler is most efficient in feed utilization, the high cost of poult production neutralizes this advantage. Thus, chicken broiler edible meat is cheaper to produce by ≈ 16 and 25% than meat from turkeys and ducks, respectively. The favourable feed utilization of the turkey broiler is partly due to the concave growth curve (with reduced feed consumption for maintenance) and primarily due to the markedly lower body fat concentration, which in turkeys is about six to ten times lower than in chickens and ducks, respectively. The low body fat level of turkey, together with the lowest cost of edible meat protein, may appeal to consumers who wish to reduce the amount of animal fat in their diets. This advantage of low fat concentration in the turkey broiler is sharply reduced at 16–24 weeks of age. There is therefore justification to examine the possibility of marketing oven-ready turkey broilers, or at least female turkey broilers, at 7–10 weeks of age.

Keywords:

• Broiler
• comparison
• duck
• efficiency
• meat
• production
• turkey