ARS | Publication request: COMPARISON OF EFFECTS OF 14 DAY FEED REMOVAL, 6 DAY FEED REMOVAL/SKIP FEED REGIMEN, AND FEEDING HENS WHEAT MIDDLINGS TO MOLT HENS ON A SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS INFECTION

Submitted to: World Poultry Congress Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: March 3, 2000
Publication Date: July 20, 2000
Citation: Holt, P.S., Seo, K., Gast, R.K. 2000. Comparison of effects of 14 day feed removal, 6 day feed removal/skip feed regimen, and feeding hens wheat middlings to molt hens on a salmonella enteritidis infection. World Poultry Congress Proceedings.

Technical Abstract: Molting hens to achieve a second egg lay is an important production tool used by the layer industry in the U.S., Latin America, and the far east. The primary method to induce a molt is to remove feed until hens drop body weight by 25-35%, generally 10-14 days. We found previously that such a procedure severely exacerbated a Salmonella enteritidis (SE) infection in these hens and we sought methods which would allow producers to molt their hens without the concomitant SE problems. Two other molt methods were compared with full feed removal for their effects on SE infection: 1) 6 day feed removal followed by 4 cycles of 3 days on grower feed and one day off; 2) birds fed ad libitum wheat middlings, a wheat by-product used as filler in poultry feeds. Production ceased in all 3 groups by 6 days. The hens were infected with 5 million SE at day 3 of molt. At 4 days post SE challenge, the SE intestinal counts in the hens fed wheat middlings were significantly lower (3-5 logs) than birds subjected to full feed removal o the skip feed regimen. There was no significant difference in gut SE between the chronically fasted hens vs the skip feed group at 4 days post challenge but there was a significant difference between these two groups at day 11 post challenge as were counts from hens fed wheat middlings. These results indicate that there are procedures available to producers to molt birds which exacerbate SE infection less than long term feed removal.