Salinomycin toxicosis in male breeder turkeys.

A sudden outbreak of mortality in one house of 600 48-week-old male breeder turkeys on a five-house turkey breeder farm was suspected to be feed-related. The turkeys gasped and became recumbent; 21.7% of affected turkeys died. No significant gross lesions were found at necropsy. Histological lesions, limited to skeletal muscle, consisted of degeneration and necrosis and were judged compatible with ionophore toxicosis. Feed samples from the affected house were analyzed by three techniques and shown to contain 13.4 to 18.4 g of salinomycin per ton of feed. An error at the feed mill was blamed for allowing contamination of the turkey feed with broiler starter feed containing salinomycin.

Research note: does compensatory growth occur following withdrawal of salinomycin from the diet of broilers?

Two floor pen studies were conducted to determine whether compensatory growth occurs following withdrawal of the anticoccidial drug salinomycin from the feed of broilers reared to 46 days of age. There were no significant differences in weight gain or feed conversion between medicated and unmedicated birds whether overall performance or performance during the 1-wk withdrawal period was measured. Feed intake of birds given salinomycin, however, was significantly lower than that of unmedicated birds, and feed intake following withdrawal was greater than that of birds still receiving the drug.

The susceptibility of chicks to Salmonella montevideo in artificially contaminated poultry feed.

Feed artificially contaminated with various levels of nalidixic-acid-resistant Salmonella montevideo was fed to newly hatched chicks for 7 days. Cloacal and cecal swabs were obtained from the chicks at 7, 14, and 21 days of age to monitor Salmonella colonization relative to the feed contamination level. In one of three trials, less than one Salmonella montevideo per gram of feed was sufficient to establish colonization in 1-to-7-day-old chicks.