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Monitoring coccidia in commercial broiler chicken flocks in Ontario: comparing oocyst cycling patterns in flocks using anticoccidial medications or live vaccination
- Source :
- Poultry Science, Vol 100, Iss 1, Pp 110-118 (2021), Poultry Science
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Coccidiosis, the parasitic disease caused by Eimeria spp., is controlled during broiler chicken production through the inclusion of in-feed anticoccidial medications. Live-coccidiosis vaccination has become an increasingly common alternative to these medications. Monitoring infections with Eimeria spp. in flocks can be accomplished through determining the concentration of oocysts excreted in the fecal material (i.e., oocysts per gram; OPG). The purpose of our study was to sample commercial Ontario broiler chicken flocks at various times of the year to determine weekly OPG counts for flocks that use either an in-feed anticoccidial medication or a live-coccidiosis vaccine. Weekly sampling of 95 flocks from placement to market permitted documentation of oocyst cycling patterns typical of conventional and antibiotic-free flocks, and variation of these patterns in summer and winter. Medicated flocks had higher and later peak oocyst shedding compared with vaccinated flocks. Flocks reared in the summer peaked in oocyst shedding earlier than flocks reared in the winter. Despite what appears to be poorer coccidiosis control in the medicated flocks, the performance data were similar for these flocks compared with vaccinated flocks. This is the first study describing typical patterns of parasite shedding in Ontarian commercial broiler chicken flocks; these data will provide a baseline of expected Eimeria spp. infections in Canadian broiler chicken flocks to ensure optimal coccidiosis prevention.
- Subjects :
- Protozoan Vaccines
Veterinary medicine
animal diseases
anticoccidial medications
Management and Production
Biology
Eimeria
03 medical and health sciences
Coccidia
coccidiosis vaccine
parasitic diseases
medicine
Animals
Poultry Diseases
Feces
broiler chickens
lcsh:SF1-1100
030304 developmental biology
Ontario
0303 health sciences
Coccidiosis
Vaccination
Oocysts
0402 animal and dairy science
Broiler
coccidiosis monitoring
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
General Medicine
medicine.disease
biology.organism_classification
040201 dairy & animal science
3. Good health
Parasitic disease
Epidemiological Monitoring
Coccidiostats
Animal Science and Zoology
lcsh:Animal culture
Flock
Chickens
oocysts per gram
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00325791
- Volume :
- 100
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Poultry Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c1b0571a872c9f271d355f421f63a67a