Beat costly coccidia with clean-up programme

摘要

When coccidia infection flares in a broiler house the effect can be devastating. Trouble is, coccidia are soon present in every commercial broiler house. It's only the level of infection that differs. Without effective treatment it's a time bomb waiting to explode. Says Dave Cunnah, Janssen Animal Health poultry manager: "The life cycle of coccidia is a week or less, and in two weeks just one oocyst can be responsible for the production of 20 million offspring." Production losses to the UK poultryindustry from coccidiosis are estimated to run into millions of pounds. "And sub-clinical infection levels can be the most costly to producers in the long term, because frequently the problem is not recognised or treated," he adds. Good hygiene programmes are important on all poultry units, but hygienic measures alone will not prevent production losses caused by coccidiosis. These include higher mortality, depressed growth, poorer feed efficiency and carcase quality, and less uniformly finished birds for processors and retailers.