Tiamulin and semduramicin: effects of simultaneous administration on performance and health of growing broiler chickens.

The pleuromutilin antibiotic tiamulin (TIA) is known to produce a variety of negative interactive effects when it is administered in combination with several anticoccidial ionophores. A 35-d growth study was performed in cages to evaluate the compatibility of TIA when it was administered concurrently with the poly-ether ionophore anticoccidial semduramicin (SEM). Tiamulin and SEM, both alone and in combination, were administered to 10 replicates of female broilers arranged in a completely randomized block design. Tiamulin was administered in drinking water (250 mg of TIA/kg of water) from d 15 through 19 of the study, whereas SEM was incorporated in feed (25 mg/kg) from placement to the conclusion of the test. Water consumption was determined during the period of concurrent administration of the drugs and weekly measurements of feed intake and bird performance were recorded. In addition, hematocrit, blood cell counts, serum protein, albumin, glucose, uric acid, electrolytes, and activities of several enzymes were determined from blood samples taken at d 35. Results indicated that simultaneous administration of TIA and SEM during the third week of the trial reduced water and feed intake resulting in a temporary growth depression. Feed efficiency was transiently affected during the period of coadministration. However, during the fourth week of the test, negative effects in body weight were not observed for any treatment and feed conversion improved for birds concurrently receiving TIA + SEM. By the termination of the experiment, no adverse effects were observed in final performance for any treatment. Histopathological and hematological parameters were unaffected by treatment at d 35 of the test. These results demonstrated that simultaneous administration of TIA and SEM produced only temporary impairments of water and feed consumption that transiently influenced performance. Neither mortality nor long-term effects on performance variables occurred in broilers.

Effect of feeding exercised horses on high-starch or high-fat diets for 390 days.

Our hypothesis was that, because horses have not evolved as fat eaters, there may be negative metabolic long-term effects of feeding a high fat diet. The objective of the present study was to identify these long-term effects and compare them with the effects of isoenergetic long-term high starch feeding. This randomised block study with 20 exercised horses looked at the effect of feeding either a high starch (HS) or a high fat (HF) diet type in 3 periods during stabling (Stable 1), pasture, and stabling (Stable 2) over 390 days. The horses received a HS or HF concentrate, straw, hay and 6 h pasture/day in the pasture period. HF horses gained weight (2% of initial bwt) and, therefore, fat intake was reduced (from 1.43 to 0.88 g/kg bwt/day). Blood plasma glucose, total protein, albumins, gamma-globulins, free fatty acids, phospholipids and cholesterol concentrations were higher but urea concentration was lower with HF compared to HS feeding (P<0.05). Plasma concentrations of triglycerides, bilirubin and pre-beta lipoproteins were unaffected by the diet type. There were period effects (P<0.05) for all variables except triglycerides and pre-beta lipoproteins. In contrast to HS, in HF the quotient alpha/beta lipoproteins rose (P<0.05) throughout the stable periods and decreased (P<0.05) during 'pasture'. Glutamic acid dehydrogenase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase activity in sera were within the normal range. In conclusion, on the precondition that substantial bodyweight changes were prevented, no apparent adverse effects of long-term high fat feeding were identified and there were no apparent disadvantages of feeding on high fat compared with high starch diets.