Salmonella fecal excretion control in broiler chickens by organic acids and essential oils blend feed added

Abstract

Salmonellosis is an important disease with economic impact as it may affect animal performance and may result in foodborne disease in humans through the eggs and carcass contamination. Regarding the Salmonella control, it is possible to decrease its fecal excretion and the contamination of chicken carcasses by adding organic acids to the feed or drinking water at appropriate times. The aim of this study was to test a blend of organic acids and essential oils in broilers challenged with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE), and to verify the fecal excretion of Salmonella. Sixty broilers were placed in four groups. One group was the negative control. Another group was orally inoculated at 1 day-old with 105 CFU/mL of SE as a positive SE control. Two groups (T3 and T4) were orally inoculated at 1 day-old with 105 CFU/mL of SE and their feed was separately treated with 0.5 and 1% of organic acids and essential oils, respectively. To assess the fecal excretion of SE, cloacal swabs were collected from all birds at 2, 6, 13 and 20 days after inoculation. The T3 and T4 groups showed a reduction in fecal excretion of SE at 6 and 20 days after inoculation.