Effects of dietary protein and added fat on turkeys varying in strain, sex, and age. 2. Carcass characteristics.

The effects of dietary protein and added fat on carcass characteristics were determined at various ages for female and male turkeys and from three strains: Nicholas Large White (N), Jaindl Large White (JL), and Jaindl Medium White (JM). A total of 1,350 turkeys was divided into 36 pens and fed diets containing 0, 5, or 10% added fat and standard or high protein levels from 8 wk of age to time of processing. One-fourth of the females and one-third of the males from each pen were processed at 16, 20, 24, or 28 wk and at 20, 24, or 28 wk, respectively. Breast meat weight, expressed as a percentage of carcass weight, was greater for JM and JL turkeys than for N turkeys (34.6, 33.9, and 31.7%, respectively), increased with age (31.9, 34.1, and 34.2% at 20, 24, and 28 wk of age, respectively), was greater for females than for males (34.2 and 32.6%, respectively), decreased with added fat (33.7, 33.4, and 33.1% for 0, 5, and 10% fat, respectively) and increased with a 3% addition of dietary protein (33.2 and 33.6%, respectively).