Relative Efficacy of Bentonite-Montmorillonite Binder or Yeast as Biosystemic
Sequestering Agents at High Aflatoxin in Turkey Poults

In a 28-day trial, the negative ef ect of aflatoxin in turkey feed and the alleviation of such ef ect using 2 inclusionlevels of yeast and bentonite-montmorillonite binders (BB) in diets contaminated with aflatoxin was investigated. One hundred and ninety two 21-day-old turkey poults were randomly allotted to six experimental diets as follows:
D1 (control diet without aflatoxin), D2 (diet with 0.15mg/kg of aflatoxin), D3 (0.15mg/kg aflatoxin + 3g/kg BB), D4(0.15mg/kg + 6g/kg BB), D5 (0.15mg/kg + 1.5g yeast/kg diet), D6 (0.15mg/kg + 3.0g yeast/kg diet).Feed intake, bodyweight gain, feed conversion ratio and mortalities were measured using standard methods to determine thepositive ef ect of the BB and yeast and the negative ef ect of aflatoxin on the turkey. Blood samples (5ml) were alsocollected from the turkey poults via jugular venopucture and used for analysis to determine the haematologyof
turkey poults. Addition of BB or yeast significantly improved the feed intake (1,432.94g, 1,360.63g, 1,334.38gand1,359g) for D3, D4, D5 & D6 respectively compared to 1,139.09g in D2. Body weight gain was also improvedindiets supplemented with BB and yeast thus : D3 (571g), D4 (580,50g), D5 (588.25g) and D6 (522.50g) comparedwith body weight gain of 409.75g in D2. Feed conversion ratio also showed significant improvement in turkeys fedwith (D1), D3, D4, D5 and D6 when compared with the diet with (D2). Mortality figures in the D2 was higher (56%)
when compared with D3 (0%), D4 (0%), D5 (12%) and D6 (0%) that were supplemented with BB and yeast asbinders. Higher values of packed cell volume, haemoglobin and red blood cells obtained from our findings wereindication of improved performance in turkeys that were fed with diets supplemented with BB and yeast. Intheoverall, the supplementation of turkey diets with BB and yeast was shown to improve the overall performanceof
turkey poults that were intoxicated with aflatoxin