Authors : Ali Karabayir , Cemil Tolu and I. Erbil Ersoy
Abstract: In this study, grazing, locomotor activity, lying, standing, feather pecking, sexual activity, drinking and aggressive pecking of American bronze and white (California) turkeys were investigated. Twenty bronze (10 male, 10 female) and 20 white (10 male, 10 female) turkeys were used. Observation of behavioral traits of turkeys was carried out once every 2 weeks between 10:00-13:00. Recording of the traits was made at 10 min intervals using Time-Sampling method. The data of bronze turkeys for 9 weeks (August-September) and of white turkeys for 4 weeks (October-November) were used in the evaluation of observations. Throughout observation period, 65% of female and 59% of male bronze turkeys displayed grazing behavior, while it was 74% in white turkeys. The difference between the 2 sexes in bronze turkeys was statistically significant (p<0.01). Of bronze turkeys, 18% of females and 22% of males showed lying behavior, on the other hand 12% of white turkeys showed the same behavior. The difference in this behavioral trait between males and females of bronze turkeys was found significant (p<0.05). Aggressive pecking behavior was the least observed trait in bronze turkeys by 0.06 and 0.3% for females and males, respectively and 0.4% for white turkeys. On the day of observation, though the difference between males and females of bronze turkeys was not significant, it was significant in white turkeys (p<0.01).
Ali Karabayir , Cemil Tolu and I. Erbil Ersoy , 2008. Some Behavioral Traits of American Bronze and White (California) Turkeys Grazing on Pasture. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 7: 1113-1116.