Methionine, cystine, sodium sulfate, and Fermacto-500 supplementation of practical-type diets for young turkeys.

Two experiments were conducted using a total of 1,296 poults divided into 144 pens to determine the effects of adding .10% DL-methionine, .10% L-cystine, .50% sodium-sulfate, and .125 or .250% Fermacto -500 to their diets. Large White and Medium White turkeys were raised to 7 and 8 weeks of age in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Each of the 24 diets was fed to one pen of each sex in a 2 X 2 X 2 X 3 factorial design in the first experiment and to two pens of each sex in the second experiment. The basal diet, composed primarily of ground yellow corn and dehulled soybean meal, contained 28% protein, .49% methionine, and .41% cystine. Average body weights at the end of the experiments were increased 3.6% from .10% added DL-methionine, 3.4% from .10% added L-cystine, and 5.3 and 6.0% from .125 and .250% added Fermacto -500, respectively. Although sodium sulfate failed to increase final body weights, 2- and 4-week body weights were increased 3.2 and 2.1%, respectively. Sodium sulfate increased body weights more in the absence of added cystine, indicating a sparing effect of sodium sulfate on cystine. The increases in body weight from methionine and cystine were additive, indicating that the sulfur amino acid requirement is probably in excess of 1.10% and that .51% may be cystine.