An Assay to Detect the Impact of Biosecurity Levels of Farms on Broilers Gut Health
An Assay to Detect the Impact of Biosecurity Levels of Farms on Broilers Gut Health
Skenndri Safae1*, Charrat Nadia2, Jmiai Mehdi3, Nassik Saadia1
ABSTRACT
During this study, we aspired and attempted to detect a correlation between the biosecurity level of 18 commercial broiler farms scattered in the Doukkala area of the Casablanca-Settat region and the health of the digestive tract of the birds. The 18 farms were firstly categorized into three (3) groups according to their performances on a biosecurity level: P group for “poor” performances, D group for “decent” performances, and G group for “good” performances. Each farm was then sampled twice on day 11 and day 35 of the same production cycle. In order to evaluate the gut health of the broilers, we used a panel of tools and techniques, ranging from numerical tools used to gather data from the farms to bacteriological material geared toward pathogens detection. The microscopic lesions found on most of the farms of the P group on day 35 indicated the ongoing of a regenerative process, contrarily to the farms of the D and G groups, in which the guts still underwent inflammation on day 35. Coccidiosis infection was heavily widespread on birds at day 35. Differences between the farm in D and P groups weren’t striking as the disease was detected on the intestinal portions of almost all the broilers of the farms belonging to those categories. Adversely to the G group in which coccidiosis was mostly detected on the caecal portion of the broilers. Bacterial isolation following liver translocation revealed the existence of a number of bacterial entities. Most of them were foodborne pathogens, in fact, all the groups displayed close levels of infection by Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp, and Staphylococcus spp; And Yersinia enterocolitica was also detected on one of the farms. Broiler performance can be affected to varying degrees by biosecurity levels on farms. Higher biosecurity levels can prevent early onset of gut inflammation, while lower levels may cause inflammation and reduce production. This study suggests that high biosecurity and management are not the sole factors influencing animal health and farm production. Other factors, such as breeder efficiency, worker experience, and chick and feed quality, must also be considered.
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