Efficacy of Feeding Treatments and Litter Formulations against Shedding of Salmonella in Broilers

Efficacy of Feeding Treatments and Litter Formulations against Shedding of Salmonella in Broilers. (May 2009) Eryn Linnae Larrison, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Michael Davis Research has shown that Salmonella can be prevalent in poultry litter, which can be a source of contamination for newly arrived chicks at the poultry house. Since this organism is a pathogen of concern to the poultry industry, two types of litter amendments and two types of feed additions were created and tested to determine effects of broiler growth, litter moisture and efficacy against Salmonella colonization. Litter amendments consisted of the combination of acidic calcium sulfate (ACS) with either diatomaceous earth (DE) or hydrated sodium calcium aluminiosilicate (HSCAS). Feed additions consisted of differing amounts of sodium bisulfate. For the litter amendment experiments, chicks were placed into pens in isolation rooms. Each litter amendment was applied to 3 pens for replicates of experimental groups. Litter samples were taken weekly from 5 areas in each pen and combined for the determination of Salmonella cfu/g of litter. At 3 and 6 weeks post placement, birds from each pen were euthanized by CO2 asphyxiation. The crop and ceca from these birds were tested for Salmonella cfu/g of crop/ceca or presence/absence of Salmonella.