The effects of season and chick sex on certain performance parameters in commercial turkey farms in the Aegean Region

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of season and sex on the production efficiency of commercial turkey farms in the Aegean Region. The data of 1161 production periods (570 male and 591 female) on 139 turkey farms between 2008 and 2017 were analysed. Daily feed consumption, feed conservation ratio (FCR), average daily gain (ADG), performance index, and carcass weight (P < 0.001) were higher in males than females. While males and females had a similar mortality rate in the first week (P > 0.05), the mortality rate in the later stages was higher in males (P < 0.001). The mortality rate in the initial period was highest in production periods that began in winter and lowest in those that began in summer (P < 0.001). The total mortality rate was higher in the autumn group than in the spring and summer groups (P < 0.001). Rearing season x sex interaction had a significant influence on the performance characteristics investigated in the study, except for mortality rates and survival. In males, FCR was lower in the autumn and winter groups than that of the spring and summer groups (P < 0.05). The highest ADG values were observed in the summer group for males and in the winter group for females. The best performance index was in the summer group in males, and the lowest performance index was observed in the autumn group for both males and females. In conclusion, environmental arrangements are needed in order to reduce the mortality rate and improve performance in production periods that began in autumn and winter.