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Paracox-5, an attenuated coccidiosis vaccine, is playing an important role in the valuable free-range and organic broiler markets of South Africa.

Avian medicine consultant Dr. Scott Elliott of Skeerpoort told Intestinal Health that there are three distinct market segments in the Republic: “green” birds that are completely organic, green birds that are free range or “country reared,” and conventionally reared broilers.

While organic broiler production requires organically grown feed crops, country-reared/free-range birds can receive non-organic feed and are allowed limited use of antibiotic growth promotants. Some alternative feed additives are also used in conjunction with vaccination in organic and countryreared/ free-range production, Elliott said.

It costs about €1.29/kg (US $1.80/kg) to produce a conventional broiler and about €1.57/kg (US $2.20/kg) to produce a country-reared/free-range bird. Producers receive about €2.29/kg (US $3.20/kg) for an organic bird, which retails for about €3.01/kg (US $4.20/kg), he said, adding that the organic market in South Africa is crowded and competitive.

Paracox-5, an attenuated live vaccine for preventing coccidiosis in broilers, has been used in the organic and free-range segments since it became available, and has enabled producers supplying these valuable markets to stop or minimize the use of in-feed anticoccidials. Its sister product, Paracox-8, is widely used in layers and breeders in South Africa, he said.

Paracox vaccines have two competitors in South Africa, but those products do not contain mild Eimeria strains and can cause lesions, Elliott said.

“Birds treated with [one of the other vaccines] can cycle too much, and if they are kept enclosed, you can end up with clinical coccidiosis at the 14- to 28-day stage. That causes a lack of uniformity, which is significant at peak production in layers and breeders. This damage could also trigger necrotic enteritis,” he said.

Necrotic enteritis is not generally a big issue in South Africa, where poultry diets are based on corn and soy, he noted, and antibiotic growth promoters play a large role in controlling the disease.

Elliott’s clients sometimes run “green” and conventional broiler operations side-by-side. “Sometimes, the free-range, country-reared birds do better than the conventionally raised broilers,” he commented.

Because infectious bursal disease is endemic in South Africa, total cleanout of poultry houses in between flocks is a common practice. However, a chronic shortage of wood for making litter, compounded by an absence of many viable alternative materials other than sunflower husks, is forcing producers to rethink this practice. “We are looking at using deep litter for the first time in 30 years,” Elliott said.

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