- Published:
Comparison Between Effects of Standard Feed and Whole Wheat Supplemented Diet on Experimental Eimeria tenella and Eimeria maxima Infections in Broiler Chickens
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica volume 39, pages 461–471 (1998)
Abstract
The effects of experimental infections with Eimeria tenella (Experiment 1, n = 144) or E. maxima (Experiment 2, n = 216) in broiler chickens fed whole wheat, with or without access to grit, as compared to a standard pelleted feed were studied. Inclusion of whole wheat was gradually increased up to 30% at 3 weeks of age. Grit was given separately. The chickens were kept on litter in a parasite-free environment with free access to water and feed.
At 3 weeks of age half the number of chickens were individually inoculated with 500 sporulated oocysts of E. tenella (Experiment 1) or 3 000 sporulated oocysts of Eimeria maxima (Experiment 2), and the remaining birds were kept separate as uninfected controls. Neither coccidiostats nor growth enhancers were used. Oocyst concentration was determined from each group separately. Intestinal lesions were scored on 6 birds per feed regime 7 d postinoculation, and on the remaining birds at slaughter.
Diet had no significant effect on bird performance during infection. However, there was an indication that the E. maxima infection had more negative effect on weight gain in birds given standard feed than in those given whole wheat supplement, but the difference was not significant (p<0.09). The number of oocysts shed or mean intestinal lesion scores did not differ between diets in either experiment. In both experiments, the number of Clostridium perfringens was higher in the caeca of inoculated birds, but there were no differences between diets.
References
Al-Sheikhly F, Truscott RB: The interaction of Clostridium perfiingens and its toxins in the production of necrotic enteritis of chickens. Avian Dis., 1977, 21, 256–263.
Al-Sheikhly F, Al-Saieg A: Role of coccidia in the occurrence of necrotic enteritis in chickens. Avian Dis., 1980, 21, 241–255.
Anonymous: Nordic Committee on Food Analyses, NMKL Method No. 95: Clostridium perfiingens - determination in foods, 2nd edition, Ord and Form, Uppsala, Sweden. 1985.
Baba E, Wakeshima H, Kazunori F, Fukata T, Arakawa A: Adhesion of bacteria to the caecal mucosal surface of conventional and germ-free chickens infected with Eimeria tenella. Am. J. Vet. Re., 1992, 53, 194–197.
Branton SL, Reece FN, Hagler WMJr: Influence of a wheat diet on mortality of broiler chickens associated with necrotic enteritis. Poultry Sci., 1987, 66, 1326–1330.
Conway DP, McKenzie ME, Dayton AD: Relationship of coccidial lesion scores and weight gain in infections of Eimeria acervulina, E. maxima and E. tenella in broilers. Avian Pathol., 1990, 19, 489–496.
Conway DP, Sasai K, Gaafar SM, Smothers CD: Effects of different levels of oocyst inocula of Eimeria acervulina, E. tenella and E. maxima on plasma constituents, packed cell volume, lesion scores, and performance in chickens. Avian Dis., 1993, 37, 118–123.
Cummings RB: The biological control of coccidiosis by choice feeding. Proc. XIX World Poultry Congr., 1992, Vol 2, 425–428.
European Commission: EUR 16602 - Guidelines on techniques in coccidiosis research. Eds. J. Eckert, R. Braun, M. W. Shirley and P. Coudert. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg. 1995.
Fernando MA: Eimeria: infections of the intestine. In: P. Long (ed). Coccidiosis of Man and Domestic Animals. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. 1990, 64–72.
Johnson J, Reid WM: Anticoccidial drugs: Lesion scoring techniques in battery and floor-pen experiments with chickens. Exp. Parasitol., 1970, 28, 30–36.
Kaldhusdal M, Hofshagen M: Barley inclusion and avoparcin supplementation in broiler diets. 2. Clinical, pathological and bacterological findings in a mild form of necrotic enteritis. Poultry Sci., 1992, 71, 1145–1153.
Parish WE: Necrotic enteritis in the fowl. 1. Histopathology of the disease and isolation of a strain of Clostridium welchii. J. Comp. Pathol., 1961, 71, 377–393.
SAS Institute: SAS/STAT® Users' Guide, Version 6, 4th edition, Volume 2, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina, USA. 1989.
Scholtyssek S, Seeman M, Seeman G: Growing capacity and carcass quality in broilers after choice feeding (I. Report), 1983, 47, 166–174. (In German).
Snedecor GW, Cochran WG: Statistical Methods, 6th edition. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, USA. 1968.
Stutz MW, Lawton GC: Effects of diet and antimicrobials on growth, feed efficiency, intestinal Clostridium perfringens and ileal weight of broiler chicks. Poultry Sci., 1984, 63, 2036–2042.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Oddvar Fossum, the National Veterinary Institute, for lesion scoring and necropsies, the Department of Food Hygiene, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences for clostridial analyses and Dr. Anna Lundén, the National Veterinary Institute, for valuable comments.
Economic funding was obtained by the Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research, and in part by the National Board of Agriculture and the Swedish Council for Forestry and Agricultural Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Waldenstedt, L., Elwinger, K., Hooshmand-Rad, P. et al. Comparison Between Effects of Standard Feed and Whole Wheat Supplemented Diet on Experimental Eimeria tenella and Eimeria maxima Infections in Broiler Chickens. Acta Vet Scand 39, 461–471 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03547772
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03547772