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Veterinary professionals learned about the importance of early coccidial cycling during the 57th Western Poultry Disease Conference and XXXIII ANECA annual convention held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Dr. Matilde Alfonso, technical service veterinarian for Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, presented results from a multi-state US study showing that coccidiosis vaccination induces earlier coccidial cycling and less prevalent and severe lesions than anticoccidials.

When cycling occurs before the bird’s major growth spurt (after 4 weeks of age), it’s less likely to interfere with growth at the time broilers eat the most feed, she said.

Further evidence that early cycling is preferable came from Dr. Robert Teeter, University of Oklahoma. His metabolic studies show that low-level coccidiosis is costly at any age, but much less so early in the bird’s life since less overall energy is used.

Get as “close to lesion-free as possible” with coccidiosis control, he said, since even birds with lesion scores of only 2 have impaired daily gain.

Dr. Steve Fitz-Coy, a parasitologist with Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health technical services, encouraged monitoring for coccidiosis because it changes patterns. Citing cases from commercial poultry operations, he showed how monitoring can indicate when a coccidiosis-control program needs to be changed to improve disease control — and profits.

Dr. Linnea Newman, also of Intervet/ Schering-Plough Animal Health technical services, advised coordinating coccidiosis control with management.

Coccidiosis-vaccinated flocks on reused litter in houses with higher bird density developed immunity earlier than vaccinated flocks on clean litter in a full house; early immunity is preferable because the adverse effects of subclinical coccidiosis on performance worsen with age, she said.

Editor’s note: For a more detailed report on the WPDC/ANECA meeting, see the North American or Latin American edition of Intestinal Health online at www.thepoultrysite.com/intestinalhealth.

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