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Performance comparison between the use and nonuse of an enteric health medication program across five consecutive commercial broiler flocks

J. L. Bray^*,,1, C. S. Taylor^*,, T. E. Cherry^* and J. Carey

^* Department of Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, PO Box 13000, Nacogdoches, TX 75962; and Department of Poultry Science, Texas A&M University, 2472-TAMU, College Station 77843

¹ Corresponding author: jbray{at}sfasu.edu

A study was conducted to examine broiler performance and carcass yield across 5 consecutive commercial broiler flocks after the removal of roxarsone (ROX) and growth-promoting antibiotics (GPA) from the feed. Over a 1-yr period, approximately 552,000 broilers were reared in 4 solid-walled, tunnel-ventilated houses, divided into 2 paired-house facilities, and were assigned 1 of 2 dietary treatments. The treated group received basal diets containing salinomycin, ROX, and GPA, whereas the control group received the same diets without ROX and GPA. Average BW were recorded for 200 sample birds/treatment per flock at 18, 35, and 48 d of age. Average BW, feed conversion, adjusted feed conversion, livability, and condemnation were calculated at the completion of each flock. Coccidiosis lesion scores of 10 birds per treatment were recorded at 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 d of age. Before birds were transferred to a commercial processing plant, 280 birds/flock were randomly selected, weighed, and tagged for carcass yield analysis. Livability was significantly negatively affected by the removal of ROX and GPA. Coccidiosis lesion scores were not affected by the treatments. Tender yields showed significant improvement, whereas all other cuts were not affected by removal of ROX and GPA.

Key Words: growth-promoting antibiotic • broiler • enteric health • yield • performance