Effect of Different Housing Systems and Sex on the Haematological and Serum Biochemical Indices of Locally Adapted and Exotic Turkeys

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of breed, different housing systems and sex on haematological and serum biochemical indices of locally adapted and exotic turkeys. A total of 100 unsexed day old poults (50 each of locally-adapted (LA) and Nicholas white (NC) turkeys) were sourced and brooded for eight weeks. The poults were then allocated randomly to the experimental layout of 2x2x2 factorial arrangement that contained two the two breeds of turkeys, the two sexes (male and female) and two housing systems (deep litter (DL) and deep litter with outdoor access (DLFR)). Each treatment was replicated 3 times with 5 turkeys each. At the 16th week of the experiment, 2 birds were randomly selected from each replicate for blood collection. About 5mls of blood was collected from each bird for determination of haematological and serum biochemical indices. All data generated were subjected to statistical analysis. The results of the of the study show that the haematological indices considered were not influenced (P>0.05) by sex or housing. Breed only affected white blood cell count with NC turkeys having a higher count (P<0.05) than the LA. Alanine aminotransferase was higher (P<0.05) in turkeys reared with outdoor access compared to the DL group. Conversely, total protein and globulin are higher (P<0.05) in the DL compared to the outdoor group. It can be recommended that housing types that give outdoor access can be used to rear turkeys without adverse effects on their haematological or serum biochemical parameters.