Morphometric and Mechanical Properties of Femora in Young Adult Male Turkeys with and Without Femoral Fractures

ABSTRACT Morphologic and torsional mechanical properties of femora were evaluated in three groups of turkeys to determine whether turkeys that incurred femo-ral fracture have different radiographic, morphologic, and torsional mechanical properties than do turkeys with-out femoral fracture, and if body weight was a factor differentiating affected and nonaffected turkeys. Nine turkeys with unilateral femoral fractures and nine turkeys without fractures from Farm A were compared with a group of nine age and genetically matched turkeys from Farm B. Turkeys from Farm A were 10 to 25 % heavier (26.2 ± 0.9 kg) and turkeys from Farm B were 10 % lighter (18.2 ± 0.9 kg) than expected breed standards. Femoral length, cortical thickness, medullary diameter, and dia-physeal curvature were measured from craniocaudal an