ABSTRACT
1. This study was conducted to verify the impact of different kinds of material and the number of times of litter reuse on the incidence of chicken pathologies. Approximately 4·5 million broilers from conventional Brazilian farms were evaluated in the abattoir for cellulitis, arthritis and contact foot-pad dermatitis. 2. Four different kinds of litter material, Brachiaria grass, corncob, sawdust and rice shell, were used. Brachiaria grass litter showed the highest incidence of contact foot-pad dermatitis. Corncob litter also showed some negative effects on foot quality. Broilers raised on rice shell litter showed good results in terms of the incidence of contact foot-pad dermatitis. The best results were obtained with sawdust litter, because the incidence of cellulitis and arthritis were the lowest and the incidence of contact foot-pad dermatitis was also very low.
Subject(s)
Chickens/physiology , Housing, Animal , Poultry Diseases/epidemiology , Animal Welfare , Animals , Arthritis/epidemiology , Arthritis/etiology , Arthritis/veterinary , Brazil , Cellulitis/epidemiology , Cellulitis/etiology , Cellulitis/veterinary , Dermatitis, Contact/epidemiology , Dermatitis, Contact/etiology , Dermatitis, Contact/veterinary , Incidence , Poultry Diseases/etiologyABSTRACT
It was studied whether vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) colonize poultry raised without receiving antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP), in non-intensive production systems. A total of 200 cloacal swabs were colleted in farms (n=40) of eight different regions of the Distrito Federal. After selective isolation, the typical enterococcal colonies were submitted to the multiplex PCR to identify enterococcal species (E. faecalis, E. faecium, E. gallinarum, and E. casseliflavus), and genes coding for high-level vancomycin resistance phenotypes. No VRE were found in the examined samples. The prevalence rates were higher for E. gallinarum (n=26; 13.0 percent) and E. casseliflavus (n=11; 5.5 percent). It was found remarkable differences in the prevalence of E. gallinarum and E. casseliflavus among the poultry farms and studied regions, and it seems that poultry raised in non-intensive production systems in the Distrito Federal of Brazil are not reservoirs of VRE.
