Abstract
A commercial competitive exclusion (CE) product was administered to one-day-old pheasant chicks using a sprayer to evaluate the ability of the product for controlling salmonellosis in pheasants. On day 7 after the treatments, concentrations of propionic acid, acetic acid, and total volatile fatty acids (mean±SDμmol/g) in cecal contents from the CE-treated pheasants were significantly higher (P<0.01) than those from untreated birds (0.83±0.23 versus 0.13±0.11, 4.95±0.79 versus 2.60±0.25, and 7.29±0.77 versus 4.63±0.54, respectively). One-day-old broiler chicks were also treated with the CE product as a sprayer or a feed supplement. On day 5 after the treatments, propionic acid concentration in the cecal contents from the sprayed chicks and the birds administered through feed reached the value of 4.45±1.98μmol/g and 5.85±0.30μmol/g, respectively, and their values were significantly higher (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively) than 2.08±0.81μmol/g in untreated chicks. The results suggest that some of the bacterial organisms in the CE product may colonize in the ceca of the treated pheasants.
