6 pp.The championship potential of a chicken or turkey is determined by genetics, but proper nutrition can help an animal achieve that genetic potential. This publication outlines four principles critical to developing a nutrition program for show broilers and turkeys. Three tables show nutrient requirements for birds at various age

Cartwright, A. Lee

Texas A&M University

There are four important prin-
ciples in developing an appropri-
ate nutrition program for show
broilers and turkeys.
Principle 1: To grow,
birds must eat and
drink.
I nadequate feed stunts develop-ment and prevents birds fromgrowing to their potential.
Since birds grow quickly, if their
feed consumption
decreases even a few
hours, their ultimate
body size can be signi-
cantly diminished. 
Several factors can
cause birds to eat less
than they should.
These factors are:
feed availability,
water availability,
feed competition,
water competition,
environmental tem-
perature and person-
al attention. 
Fresh, clean water and
feed must be continuous-
ly available to birds
from the beginning.
Order the proper
feed from your farm store before
your birds arrive. Make sure birds
are able to easily reach water and
feed. During the rst week, place
feed in at pans so young birds
can easily nd and eat it. Use
chick waterers so that water is
easily reached. Later, as birds
grow, hanging tube feeders can be
used. These feeders rell the
feeding trough as birds eat. Keep
the height of the feed trough
adjusted to the birds’ chest
height. Make sure feed is deep
enough in the trough and that
access to the feeder is clear.
Provide enough feeder space so
that all birds can eat at the same
time without being too crowded.
The bird should be able to eat
without fear of being pecked by
another bird or without
fear of their combs and
beaks contacting other
objects.
There is a direct
relationship
between the amount
of water a bird con-
sumes and the
amount of feed it
will eat. If the
water supply is inad-
equate, birds stop
eating.
Temperature also is
important. If the room is
too warm, birds
will eat less. So a
comfortable temperature
for the age of the bird should be
maintained.
Feed quality also aects con-
sumption. Birds given stale, ran-
cid or moldy feed will stop eat-
Nutrition and
Feeding of
Show Poultry
L-5159
10/03
T he champion-ship potentialof a chicken or
turkey is determined
by genetics. The ani-
mal’s environment
dictates whether this
championship poten-
tial will be attained.
Nutrition is a critical
part of a bird’s envi-
ronment, and a good
ration is the founda-
tion of chicken and
turkey growth. No
matter what a bird is
fed, it will only grow
as well as you feed it
and it cannot grow
beyond its maximum
potential.
A. Lee Cartwright
Associate Professor and
Extension Poultry
Specialist
The Texas A&M University
System
ing. To keep feed fresh, store it
properly away from exposure to
heat, moisture and sunlight (sun-
light destroys vitamins).
Birds respond to attention.
Dragging your finger through the
feed in the trough will stimulate
them to eat.
Principle 2: To grow
well, birds must eat 
the right things.
Bird feed should contain allthe nutrients needed togrow muscle, bone, internal
organs, fat and feathers. The fol-
lowing table lists the five basic
classes of nutrients birds need
and the feed ingredients that usu-
ally supply them.
Nutrient 
Nutrient primarily
needed: supplied by:
carbohydrates corn, sorghum, 
other grains
proteins soybean meal, 
meat products, 
amino acids 
(methionine, 
lysine)
fats corn oil, blended 
fat products
minerals salt, limestone, 
calcium 
carbonate,
calcium 
phosphate, trace 
mineral mix
vitamins vitamin mix, 
other ingredients
These ingredients are mixed in
different proportions and ground
into meal. The feed can be
bagged as this meal (sometimes
called “mash”), or the mash can
be pressed into larger pellets or
crumbles. Feed bags have tags
with information about the mix-
ture of nutrients supplied by the
feed. The tag does not list the
proportion of all ingredients, but
it does list the percentages of sev-
eral important nutrients that are
good measures of feed quality. An
example of what you might see
on a show feed tag is illustrated
below. Notice that some nutrients
have minimum levels while oth-
ers have maximum levels.
Crude protein (CP)......min 26%
Lysine ........................min 1.5%
Methionine ................min 0.5%
Crude fat ....................min 6.0%
Crude fiber ................max 4.0%
Calcium (Ca) ..............min 1.1%
Calcium......................max 1.5%
Phosphorus (P) ..........min 0.8%
Salt ............................min 0.4%
Salt ............................max 0.5%
However, a feed is much more
complex than the information on
the tag can indicate. It contains
amino acids, the building blocks
of protein, as well as vitamins,
minerals and other nutrients. No
one feed ingredient contains all
the nutrients required for a com-
plete diet. Some feed ingredients
are rich in one nutrient but poor
in another. This is the reason feed
is a mixture of ingredients. For
example, soybean meal is rich in
protein, while corn is high in
energy but a relatively poor
source of protein. Together they
complement each other in the
feed. Each ingredient has a place
in a balanced diet.
Certain fats, vitamins, minerals
and amino acids are so vital for
the bird that they are called
“essential” nutrients. Even though
the amounts required are usually
small, birds will sicken or die
without any one of these essential
nutrients. 
Principle 3: To win,
birds must eat and
grow in a balanced way.
Aration is the amount offood that a bird will eat ina day. Birds will eat this
much and no more, so everything
they need must be in this amount
of feed.  Several balances of
ingredients must be maintained:
 Energy and protein
 Amino acids (complete 
protein)
 Minerals 
 Essential fats (and fat-
soluble vitamins).
A chicken or turkey stops eat-
ing once a certain amount of
energy has been consumed in a
day.  The bird stops eating even if
it has not eaten enough protein,
vitamins and minerals. Because
fat contains more than twice the
energy contained in protein or
carbohydrate, an increase in the
amount of fat in a diet must be
balanced with increased protein.
The energy concentration of the
diet must be balanced with other
nutrients in 
the diet.
Protein contains 20 amino
acids that build muscle protein.
Fourteen of these building blocks
must be supplied and balanced in
the diet. If any one of them is
missing or isn’t supplied in the
proper amount, muscle protein
cannot be made and the remain-
ing amino acids will be used for
energy or fat instead.
Twenty-seven minerals are
required in poultry diets. In a
good poultry ration, these miner-
als are carefully balanced.
Mineral supplements should be
added to a diet only with extreme
care, because an excess of one
type of mineral can cause a defi-
ciency of another mineral. The
bones of a growing chick  are
especially susceptible to mineral
deficiency or imbalance caused
by excess supplementation.
Vitamins should be given in
adequate amounts, but some vit-
amins can be toxic if too much
is given. Some vitamins even
interact detrimentally with min-
erals. Excess vitamins are not
only expensive, but they can also
cause health problems.
To illustrate the complexity of
a complete and balanced poultry
ration, Tables 1 and 2 list the sci-
entifically determined nutrient
requirements of broiler chickens
and turkeys at different ages as
published in the National
Research Council’s Nutrient
Requirements of Poultry. These
nutrient concentrations are the
minimal requirements for
growth and health. Your show
diet will be a different formu-
lation, since the National
Research Council’s data state
minimal values. Feed formula-
tion is a complicated process that
ensures a feed contains all the
nutrients that a bird needs.
Specialized training or a comput-
er program are required to confi-
dently formulate a poultry ration.
Principle 4: To unbal-
ance a balanced ration
with supplements is
destructive.
If you have a good ration thatfulfills all of the dietary needsof broiler and roaster chickens
or turkeys, do not alter it. Some-
times a little more of a good thing
upsets a balanced ration. A bal-
anced approach to nutrition is the
key to optimum growth. 
Once the correct amount of
protein is fed, any excess will be
used for energy or to make fat.
Increasing fat in the diet increas-
es the energy density of a diet.
Birds consuming a diet with too
much energy may fail to eat
enough protein, vitamins and
minerals to support optimum
growth.   
However, many people feed
small amounts of starter ration
lightly moistened with cooking
oil several times a day to stimu-
ate older birds to eat. This prac-
tice is acceptable in moderation
because it generally creates a
“grower-type” diet from the
starter ration. During extremely
hot or cold weather, the birds
may also benefit from this
treatment. Beyond this prac-
tice, supplementation is usuall-
ly ineffective or harmful.
Increasing the amount
of vitamins in a ration
beyond what is needed to
meet requirements wastes
money or damages the
health of your birds.  Some
vitamins are toxic at high levels.
Minerals also must be in balance.
Some minerals compete against
other minerals and can cause
deficiencies.  A minor deficiency
in a mineral or vitamin can lead
to loss of appetite, poor feed uti-
lization, depressed growth, weak-
ness or lameness. Once nutrients
are in balance, you cannot
improve your ration, but you can
unbalance it.
Common mistakes made with
supplements include:
 Giving vitamin and elec-
trolyte supplements for
more than 10 days
 Supplementing balanced
rations with cracked corn,
oats or other grain
 Adding green chops, lettuce
or other low nutrient ingre-
dients to the diet
 Inappropriate medication.
Do not medicate birds
unless they are sick. When a
medicated feed has been
used, always follow the rec-
ommended medication-free
feeding schedule before a
bird is used for food or
taken to a show. 
A good show ration with a
feed tag similar to that illustrated
on page 2 would be a good choice
for broiler chickens until 3 to 4
weeks of age. A turkey starter
mixed with broiler feed to adjust
the protein level to between 23
and 25 percent is often used. A
water-soluble vitamin and elec-
trolyte supplement can be given
during the first week of life, but
supplementation for more than
10 days may affect the birds’
health. After 4 weeks of age a fin-
isher ration with higher energy
content and a 21 to 23 percent
protein level can be fed. One
good way to modify the protein
content and energy concentration
of show diets is to mix high pro-
tein and high energy finishing
diets together in well-planned
proportions. This way, all nutri-
ents remain correctly balanced.
Roaster chickens are usually
shown in competition between 10
to 14 weeks of age. Their diets
are similiar to the diets fed to
broiler chickens.
Turkeys require high protein
rations. A turkey starter or game
bird feed with protein concentra-
tions of 28 to 30 percent is usual-
ly successful.  The protein con-
tent can be gradually decreased
and energy content increased as
the turkey ages. Avoid over-sup-
plementation. 
There are no magic formu-
las that guarantee champi-
onship birds. Feed them
fresh, clean water and a well-
balanced ration; keep them
clean, comfortable and
unstressed; give them care and
attention, and they will devel-
op to their fullest genetic
potential.
Table 1. Nutrient requirements of broiler chickens as percentages, milligrams or
units per kilogram of feed for different ages.
Nutrient Units 0-3 weeks of age 3-6 weeks of age 6-8 weeks of age
Energy in dieta (ME/Kg) kcal 3,200 3,200 3,200
Protein % 23.0 20.0 18.0
Arginine % 1.44 1.20 1.00
Glycine + Serine % 1.50 1.00 0.70
Histidine % 0.35 0.30 0.26
Isoleucine % 0.80 0.70 0.60
Leucine % 1.35 1.18 1.00
Lysine % 1.20 1.00 0.85
Methionine + Cystine % 0.93 0.72 0.60
Methionine % 0.50 0.38 0.32
Phenylalanine + Tyrosine % 1.34 1.17 1.00
Phenylalanine % 0.72 0.63 0.54
Threonine % 0.80 .74 0.68
Tryptophan % 0.23 0.18 0.17
Valine % 0.82 0.72 0.62
Linoleic acid % 1.00 1.00 1.00
Calcium % 1.00 0.90 0.80
Phophorus, available % 0.45 0.40 0.35
Potassium % 0.40 0.35 0.30
Sodium % 0.15 0.15 0.15
Chloride % 0.15 0.15 0.15
Magnesium mg 600 600 600
Manganese mg 60.0 60.0 60.0
Zinc mg 40.0 40.0 40.0
Iron mg 80.0 80.0 80.0
Copper mg 8.0 8.0 8.0
Iodine mg 0.35 0.35 0.35
Selenium mg 0.15 0.15 0.15
Vitamin A IU 1,500 1,500 1,500
Vitamin D ICU 200 200 200
Vitamin E IU 10 10 10
Vitamin K mg 0.50 0.50 0.50
Riboflavin mg 3.60 3.60 3.60
Pantothenic acid mg 10.0 10.0 10.0
Niacin mg 27.0 27.0 11.0
Vitamin B12 mg 0.009 0.009 0.003
Choline mg 1,300 850 500
Biotin mg 0.15 0.15 0.10
Folacin mg 0.55 0.55 0.25
Thiamin mg 1.80 1.80 1.80
Pyridoxine mg 3.0 3.0 2.5
aThese are typical dietary energy concentrations.
Table 2. Nutrient requirements of turkeys as percentages, milligrams or units per
kilogram of feed for each sex at various ages.
Sex and age (in weeks)
M: 0-4 4-8 8-12 12-16 16-20 20-24
Nutrient Units F: 0-4 4-8 8-11 11-14 14-17 17-20
Energy in dieta (ME/Kg) kcal 2,800 2,900 3,000 3,100 3,200 3,300
Protein % 28 26 22 19 16.5 14
Arginine % 1.6 1.5 1.25 1.1 0.95 0.8
Glycine + Serine % 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5
Histidine % 0.58 0.54 0.46 0.39 0.35 0.29
Isoleucine % 1.1 1.0 0.85 0.75 0.65 0.55
Leucine % 1.9 1.75 1.5 1.3 1.1 0.95
Lysine % 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.0 0.8 0.65
Methionine + Cystine % 1.05 0.9 0.75 0.65 0.55 0.45
Methionine % 0.53 0.45 0.38 0.33 0.28 0.23
Phenylalnine + Tyrosine % 1.8 1.65 1.4 1.2 1.05 0.9
Phenylaline % 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5
Threonine % 1.0 0.93 0.79 0.68 0.59 0.5
Tryptophan % 0.26 0.24 0.2 0.18 0.15 0.13
Valine % 1.2 1.1 0.94 0.8 0.7 0.6
Linoleic acid % 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8
Calcium % 1.2 1.0 0.85 0.75 0.65 0.55
Phosporus, available % 0.6 0.5 0.42 0.38 0.32 0.28
Potassium % 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4
Sodium % 0.17 0.15 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12
Chlorine % 0.15 0.14 0.14 0.12 0.12 0.12
Magnesium mg 600 600 600 600 600 600
Manganese mg 60 60 60 60 60 60
Zinc mg 75 65 50 40 40 40
Iron mg 80 60 60 60 50 50
Copper mg 8 8 6 6 6 6
Iodine mg 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Selenium mg 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Vitamin A IU 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000
Vitamin Db ICU 900 900 900 900 900 900
Vitamin E IU 12 12 10 10 10 10
Vitamin K mg 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8
Riboflavin mg 3.6 3.6 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.5
Pantothenic acid mg 11.0 11.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0
Niacin mg 70.0 70.0 50.0 50.0 40.0 40.0
Vitamin B12 mg 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003
Choline mg 1,900 1,600 1,300 1,100 950 800
Biotin mg 0.2 0.2 0.15 0.125 0.100 0.100
Folacin mg 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7
Thiamin mg 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.00 2.0 2.0
Pyridoxine mg 4.5 4.5 3.5 3.5 3.0 3.0
aThese are typical dietary energy concentrations.
Educational programs of Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability,  religion, age or national 
origin.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, Acts of Congress of May 8, 1914, as amended, and
June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. Chester P. Fehlis, Director, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, The
Texas A&M University System.
5M, Revision
       Produced by Agricultural Communications, The Texas A&M University System
Extension publications can be found on the Web at: http://AgriLifebookstore.org
Family Safety
Public health agency investigations have implicated improper han-
dling of poultry with occasional outbreaks of disease in humans.
Protect your family from bird-transmitted diseases by following
these guidelines:
Do not bring live poultry of any age into the house.
Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after
contact with poultry.
Do not allow toddlers to handle poultry.
Avoid contact with poultry feces.
Wash your hands, counter tops and utensils with hot, soapy
water after handling raw poultry. (You may also wish to obtain
Extension publication L-5088, “Enjoy Poultry Meat Safelly,” from
the county Extension oce. It is also available on the Web at
http://agpublications.tamu.edu/catalob/topics/Poultry.html.)


English

Nutrition and Feeding of Show Poultry

Texas A&amp;M Repository

There are four important prin-ciples in developing an appropri-ate nutrition program for showbroilers and turkeys.Principle 1: To grow,birds must eat anddrink.I nadequate feed stunts develop-ment and prevents birds fromgrowing to their potential.Since birds grow quickly, if theirfeed consumptiondecreases even a fewhours, their ultimatebody size can be signi-cantly diminished. Several factors cancause birds to eat lessthan they should.These factors are:feed availability,water availability,feed competition,water competition,environmental tem-perature and person-al attention. Fresh, clean water andfeed must be continuous-ly available to birdsfrom the beginning.Order the properfeed from your farm store beforeyour birds arrive. Make sure birdsare able to easily reach water andfeed. During the rst week, placefeed in at pans so young birdscan easily nd and eat it. Usechick waterers so that water iseasily reached. Later, as birdsgrow, hanging tube feeders can beused. These feeders rell thefeeding trough as birds eat. Keepthe height of the feed troughadjusted to the birds’ chestheight. Make sure feed is deepenough in the trough and thataccess to the feeder is clear.Provide enough feeder space sothat all birds can eat at the sametime without being too crowded.The bird should be able to eatwithout fear of being pecked byanother bird or withoutfear of their combs andbeaks contacting otherobjects.There is a directrelationshipbetween the amountof water a bird con-sumes and theamount of feed itwill eat. If thewater supply is inad-equate, birds stopeating.Temperature also isimportant. If the room istoo warm, birdswill eat less. So acomfortable temperaturefor the age of the bird should bemaintained.Feed quality also aects con-sumption. Birds given stale, ran-cid or moldy feed will stop eat-Nutrition andFeeding ofShow PoultryL-515910/03T he champion-ship potentialof a chicken orturkey is determinedby genetics. The ani-mal’s environmentdictates whether thischampionship poten-tial will be attained.Nutrition is a criticalpart of a bird’s envi-ronment, and a goodration is the founda-tion of chicken andturkey growth. Nomatter what a bird isfed, it will only growas well as you feed itand it cannot growbeyond its maximumpotential.A. Lee CartwrightAssociate Professor andExtension PoultrySpecialistThe Texas A&M UniversitySysteming. To keep feed fresh, store itproperly away from exposure toheat, moisture and sunlight (sun-light destroys vitamins).Birds respond to attention.Dragging your finger through thefeed in the trough will stimulatethem to eat.Principle 2: To growwell, birds must eat the right things.Bird feed should contain allthe nutrients needed togrow muscle, bone, internalorgans, fat and feathers. The fol-lowing table lists the five basicclasses of nutrients birds needand the feed ingredients that usu-ally supply them.Nutrient Nutrient primarilyneeded: supplied by:carbohydrates corn, sorghum, other grainsproteins soybean meal, meat products, amino acids (methionine, lysine)fats corn oil, blended fat productsminerals salt, limestone, calcium carbonate,calcium phosphate, trace mineral mixvitamins vitamin mix, other ingredientsThese ingredients are mixed indifferent proportions and groundinto meal. The feed can bebagged as this meal (sometimescalled “mash”), or the mash canbe pressed into larger pellets orcrumbles. Feed bags have tagswith information about the mix-ture of nutrients supplied by thefeed. The tag does not list theproportion of all ingredients, butit does list the percentages of sev-eral important nutrients that aregood measures of feed quality. Anexample of what you might seeon a show feed tag is illustratedbelow. Notice that some nutrientshave minimum levels while oth-ers have maximum levels.Crude protein (CP)......min 26%Lysine ........................min 1.5%Methionine ................min 0.5%Crude fat ....................min 6.0%Crude fiber ................max 4.0%Calcium (Ca) ..............min 1.1%Calcium......................max 1.5%Phosphorus (P) ..........min 0.8%Salt ............................min 0.4%Salt ............................max 0.5%However, a feed is much morecomplex than the information onthe tag can indicate. It containsamino acids, the building blocksof protein, as well as vitamins,minerals and other nutrients. Noone feed ingredient contains allthe nutrients required for a com-plete diet. Some feed ingredientsare rich in one nutrient but poorin another. This is the reason feedis a mixture of ingredients. Forexample, soybean meal is rich inprotein, while corn is high inenergy but a relatively poorsource of protein. Together theycomplement each other in thefeed. Each ingredient has a placein a balanced diet.Certain fats, vitamins, mineralsand amino acids are so vital forthe bird that they are called“essential” nutrients. Even thoughthe amounts required are usuallysmall, birds will sicken or diewithout any one of these essentialnutrients. Principle 3: To win,birds must eat andgrow in a balanced way.Aration is the amount offood that a bird will eat ina day. Birds will eat thismuch and no more, so everythingthey need must be in this amountof feed.  Several balances ofingredients must be maintained: Energy and protein Amino acids (complete protein) Minerals  Essential fats (and fat-soluble vitamins).A chicken or turkey stops eat-ing once a certain amount ofenergy has been consumed in aday.  The bird stops eating even ifit has not eaten enough protein,vitamins and minerals. Becausefat contains more than twice theenergy contained in protein orcarbohydrate, an increase in theamount of fat in a diet must bebalanced with increased protein.The energy concentration of thediet must be balanced with othernutrients in the diet.Protein contains 20 aminoacids that build muscle protein.Fourteen of these building blocksmust be supplied and balanced inthe diet. If any one of them ismissing or isn’t supplied in theproper amount, muscle proteincannot be made and the remain-ing amino acids will be used forenergy or fat instead.Twenty-seven minerals arerequired in poultry diets. In agood poultry ration, these miner-als are carefully balanced.Mineral supplements should beadded to a diet only with extremecare, because an excess of onetype of mineral can cause a defi-ciency of another mineral. Thebones of a growing chick  areespecially susceptible to mineraldeficiency or imbalance causedby excess supplementation.Vitamins should be given inadequate amounts, but some vit-amins can be toxic if too muchis given. Some vitamins eveninteract detrimentally with min-erals. Excess vitamins are notonly expensive, but they can alsocause health problems.To illustrate the complexity ofa complete and balanced poultryration, Tables 1 and 2 list the sci-entifically determined nutrientrequirements of broiler chickensand turkeys at different ages aspublished in the NationalResearch Council’s NutrientRequirements of Poultry. Thesenutrient concentrations are theminimal requirements forgrowth and health. Your showdiet will be a different formu-lation, since the NationalResearch Council’s data stateminimal values. Feed formula-tion is a complicated process thatensures a feed contains all thenutrients that a bird needs.Specialized training or a comput-er program are required to confi-dently formulate a poultry ration.Principle 4: To unbal-ance a balanced rationwith supplements isdestructive.If you have a good ration thatfulfills all of the dietary needsof broiler and roaster chickensor turkeys, do not alter it. Some-times a little more of a good thingupsets a balanced ration. A bal-anced approach to nutrition is thekey to optimum growth. Once the correct amount ofprotein is fed, any excess will beused for energy or to make fat.Increasing fat in the diet increas-es the energy density of a diet.Birds consuming a diet with toomuch energy may fail to eatenough protein, vitamins andminerals to support optimumgrowth.   However, many people feedsmall amounts of starter rationlightly moistened with cookingoil several times a day to stimu-ate older birds to eat. This prac-tice is acceptable in moderationbecause it generally creates a“grower-type” diet from thestarter ration. During extremelyhot or cold weather, the birdsmay also benefit from thistreatment. Beyond this prac-tice, supplementation is usuall-ly ineffective or harmful.Increasing the amountof vitamins in a rationbeyond what is needed tomeet requirements wastesmoney or damages thehealth of your birds.  Somevitamins are toxic at high levels.Minerals also must be in balance.Some minerals compete againstother minerals and can causedeficiencies.  A minor deficiencyin a mineral or vitamin can leadto loss of appetite, poor feed uti-lization, depressed growth, weak-ness or lameness. Once nutrientsare in balance, you cannotimprove your ration, but you canunbalance it.Common mistakes made withsupplements include: Giving vitamin and elec-trolyte supplements formore than 10 days Supplementing balancedrations with cracked corn,oats or other grain Adding green chops, lettuceor other low nutrient ingre-dients to the diet Inappropriate medication.Do not medicate birdsunless they are sick. When amedicated feed has beenused, always follow the rec-ommended medication-freefeeding schedule before abird is used for food ortaken to a show. A good show ration with afeed tag similar to that illustratedon page 2 would be a good choicefor broiler chickens until 3 to 4weeks of age. A turkey startermixed with broiler feed to adjustthe protein level to between 23and 25 percent is often used. Awater-soluble vitamin and elec-trolyte supplement can be givenduring the first week of life, butsupplementation for more than10 days may affect the birds’health. After 4 weeks of age a fin-isher ration with higher energycontent and a 21 to 23 percentprotein level can be fed. Onegood way to modify the proteincontent and energy concentrationof show diets is to mix high pro-tein and high energy finishingdiets together in well-plannedproportions. This way, all nutri-ents remain correctly balanced.Roaster chickens are usuallyshown in competition between 10to 14 weeks of age. Their dietsare similiar to the diets fed tobroiler chickens.Turkeys require high proteinrations. A turkey starter or gamebird feed with protein concentra-tions of 28 to 30 percent is usual-ly successful.  The protein con-tent can be gradually decreasedand energy content increased asthe turkey ages. Avoid over-sup-plementation. There are no magic formu-las that guarantee champi-onship birds. Feed themfresh, clean water and a well-balanced ration; keep themclean, comfortable andunstressed; give them care andattention, and they will devel-op to their fullest geneticpotential.Table 1. Nutrient requirements of broiler chickens as percentages, milligrams orunits per kilogram of feed for different ages.Nutrient Units 0-3 weeks of age 3-6 weeks of age 6-8 weeks of ageEnergy in dieta (ME/Kg) kcal 3,200 3,200 3,200Protein % 23.0 20.0 18.0Arginine % 1.44 1.20 1.00Glycine + Serine % 1.50 1.00 0.70Histidine % 0.35 0.30 0.26Isoleucine % 0.80 0.70 0.60Leucine % 1.35 1.18 1.00Lysine % 1.20 1.00 0.85Methionine + Cystine % 0.93 0.72 0.60Methionine % 0.50 0.38 0.32Phenylalanine + Tyrosine % 1.34 1.17 1.00Phenylalanine % 0.72 0.63 0.54Threonine % 0.80 .74 0.68Tryptophan % 0.23 0.18 0.17Valine % 0.82 0.72 0.62Linoleic acid % 1.00 1.00 1.00Calcium % 1.00 0.90 0.80Phophorus, available % 0.45 0.40 0.35Potassium % 0.40 0.35 0.30Sodium % 0.15 0.15 0.15Chloride % 0.15 0.15 0.15Magnesium mg 600 600 600Manganese mg 60.0 60.0 60.0Zinc mg 40.0 40.0 40.0Iron mg 80.0 80.0 80.0Copper mg 8.0 8.0 8.0Iodine mg 0.35 0.35 0.35Selenium mg 0.15 0.15 0.15Vitamin A IU 1,500 1,500 1,500Vitamin D ICU 200 200 200Vitamin E IU 10 10 10Vitamin K mg 0.50 0.50 0.50Riboflavin mg 3.60 3.60 3.60Pantothenic acid mg 10.0 10.0 10.0Niacin mg 27.0 27.0 11.0Vitamin B12 mg 0.009 0.009 0.003Choline mg 1,300 850 500Biotin mg 0.15 0.15 0.10Folacin mg 0.55 0.55 0.25Thiamin mg 1.80 1.80 1.80Pyridoxine mg 3.0 3.0 2.5aThese are typical dietary energy concentrations.Table 2. Nutrient requirements of turkeys as percentages, milligrams or units perkilogram of feed for each sex at various ages.Sex and age (in weeks)M: 0-4 4-8 8-12 12-16 16-20 20-24Nutrient Units F: 0-4 4-8 8-11 11-14 14-17 17-20Energy in dieta (ME/Kg) kcal 2,800 2,900 3,000 3,100 3,200 3,300Protein % 28 26 22 19 16.5 14Arginine % 1.6 1.5 1.25 1.1 0.95 0.8Glycine + Serine % 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5Histidine % 0.58 0.54 0.46 0.39 0.35 0.29Isoleucine % 1.1 1.0 0.85 0.75 0.65 0.55Leucine % 1.9 1.75 1.5 1.3 1.1 0.95Lysine % 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.0 0.8 0.65Methionine + Cystine % 1.05 0.9 0.75 0.65 0.55 0.45Methionine % 0.53 0.45 0.38 0.33 0.28 0.23Phenylalnine + Tyrosine % 1.8 1.65 1.4 1.2 1.05 0.9Phenylaline % 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5Threonine % 1.0 0.93 0.79 0.68 0.59 0.5Tryptophan % 0.26 0.24 0.2 0.18 0.15 0.13Valine % 1.2 1.1 0.94 0.8 0.7 0.6Linoleic acid % 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8Calcium % 1.2 1.0 0.85 0.75 0.65 0.55Phosporus, available % 0.6 0.5 0.42 0.38 0.32 0.28Potassium % 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4Sodium % 0.17 0.15 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12Chlorine % 0.15 0.14 0.14 0.12 0.12 0.12Magnesium mg 600 600 600 600 600 600Manganese mg 60 60 60 60 60 60Zinc mg 75 65 50 40 40 40Iron mg 80 60 60 60 50 50Copper mg 8 8 6 6 6 6Iodine mg 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4Selenium mg 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2Vitamin A IU 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000Vitamin Db ICU 900 900 900 900 900 900Vitamin E IU 12 12 10 10 10 10Vitamin K mg 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8Riboflavin mg 3.6 3.6 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.5Pantothenic acid mg 11.0 11.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0Niacin mg 70.0 70.0 50.0 50.0 40.0 40.0Vitamin B12 mg 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003Choline mg 1,900 1,600 1,300 1,100 950 800Biotin mg 0.2 0.2 0.15 0.125 0.100 0.100Folacin mg 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7Thiamin mg 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.00 2.0 2.0Pyridoxine mg 4.5 4.5 3.5 3.5 3.0 3.0aThese are typical dietary energy concentrations.Educational programs of Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability,  religion, age or national origin.Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, Acts of Congress of May 8, 1914, as amended, andJune 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. Chester P. Fehlis, Director, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, TheTexas A&M University System.5M, Revision       Produced by Agricultural Communications, The Texas A&M University SystemExtension publications can be found on the Web at: http://AgriLifebookstore.orgFamily SafetyPublic health agency investigations have implicated improper han-dling of poultry with occasional outbreaks of disease in humans.Protect your family from bird-transmitted diseases by followingthese guidelines:Do not bring live poultry of any age into the house.Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water aftercontact with poultry.Do not allow toddlers to handle poultry.Avoid contact with poultry feces.Wash your hands, counter tops and utensils with hot, soapywater after handling raw poultry. (You may also wish to obtainExtension publication L-5088, “Enjoy Poultry Meat Safelly,” fromthe county Extension oce. It is also available on the Web athttp://agpublications.tamu.edu/catalob/topics/Poultry.html.)

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Nutrition and Feeding of Show Poultry

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Nutrition and Feeding of Show Poultry

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