231 The synergistic effects of plant-derived nutritional mixtures on recombinant antigen vaccination against avian coccidiosis. H. Lillehoj*1, S. H. Lee1, S. I. Jang1, K. W. Lee1, M. S. Park1, and D. Bravo2, 1Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Agricultural Research Service-U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, 2Pancosma S.A., Geneva, Switzerland.

The US produced 8550 MM chickens and 242 MM turkeys in 2010. This impressive production of poultry was almost entirely done under confinement. This level of production could not be achieved without coccidiosis control. The first anticoccidial added to poultry feed that proved to be effective and was approved by FDA in 1948 was sulfaquinoxaline. This was the start of the chemoprophylatic era and paved the way for the initial expansion of the industry and the development of a multitude of new anticoccidials. Some are still successfully used today, among them; nicarbazin approved in 1955 and arsanilic acid, approved in 1949 (now replaced by roxarsone). Up to the early 1970s the chemoprophylactic control of coccidiosis was based on the use of synthetic anticoccidials. Pharmaceutical companies employed scientists responsible for screening a variety of chemical compounds synthesized in their laboratories for their effectiveness as anticoccidials. The ones that were effective and well tolerated by poultry were further developed until an approval for marketing was secured. With a few exceptions, such as nicarbazin, the problem with these “chemicals” was that most of them had very strong anticoccidial activity and this lead to selective pressure upon the Eimeria spp. that in most cases resulted in complete resistance to the drug within a few years. Pharmaceutical companies had to be discovering, testing and approving new anticoccidials every few years. This changed in 1971 with the approval of monensin, the first ionophore. The main difference was that due to its different mode of action a fast development of resistance did not occur. This lead to the development and introduction of other ionophores; lasalocid (1976), salinomycin (1986), narasin (1988), maduramicin (1989) and semduramicin (1996). Since then, prevention of coccidiosis by in-feed anticoccidials has remained the backbone of control programs. It is remarkable that in spite of over 55 years of use, “chemical” anticoccidials like nicarbazin continue to be effective, and after more than 40 years of the introduction of the first ionophore, these drugs continue to be effective in chickens, and some (monensin and lasalocid) also in turkeys.

For many economically important diseases of poultry, there is an increasing interest to develop drug-free alternative control strategies against many infectious diseases due to increasing consumersâ€TM concerns about chemical residues in poultry meat. One promising new avenue to achieve this goal is the use of natural and herbal products, hyperimmune IgY antibodies, oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), or probiotics to enhance host defense against microbial infections. Recent studies from our laboratory provided clear evidence that dietary supplements which enhance innate immunity decreased immunopathology associated with infections with pathogenic enteric pathogens. In this report, molecular changes associated with enhanced innate immunity following dietary immunomodulation will be presented using microarray analysis. Alternative prevention and/or treatment measures such as non-chemical dietary supplements that effectively enhance productivity and activate non-specific immunity will help limit the use of antibiotics. However, there is a critical need for more fundamental research to understand poultry immune system and host-pathogen immunobiology in order to develop effective disease prevention strategy.

M1 Performance and mortality rate of various broiler breeds reared in Ogun State after brooding stage to slaughter. A. A. Mako*1, O. I. Abiola-Olagunju2, O. A. Ogunwole2, R. A. Hamzat3, O. K. Awobajo1, A. O. Igbosanu1, and R. O. Ettu1, 1Tai Solarin, University of Education, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria, 2Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, 3Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

Feed ingredient costs have been a concern to the U.S. broiler industry. Some integrated operations have reduced apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn ) values to decrease live production costs. Our laboratory has previously determined that 36 to 47 d feed conversion and caloric conversion were optimized with broilers fed diets formulated at 3,200 kcal/ kg. Finishing broilers may respond to diets formulated to AMEn higher than 3,200 kcal/kg during a summer grow-out. This research evaluated performance and meat yield of broilers fed diets varying in AMEn. Ross × Ross 708 chicks were randomly distributed into 96 floor pens (48 pens of males and females, respectively) at 1 d of age and were fed a common starter and grower diets until 35 d of age. At 36 d of age, all pens were equalized with 15 birds (0.09 m2/bird) and fed the experimental diets until 47 d of age. Six dietary treatments ranging in AMEn from 3,140 to 3,240 kcal/kg in increments of 20 kcal/kg were fed to male and female broilers. During experimentation, ambient temperature set point was 25 °C. Broilers fed gradient additions of AMEn had linear increases (P ≤ 0.03) in BW, BW gain, carcass weight, total breast meat weight, and plasma free fatty acids. Increasing AMEn decreased (P ≤ 0.02) 36 to 47 d feed conversion and caloric conversion linearly. Optimum AMEn approximated 3,240 kcal/kg from 36 to 47 d of age based on BW gain, feed conversion, caloric conversion, and total breast meat weight. Linear AMEn × gender interactions (P≤0.05) were observed for BW, BW gain, feed conversion, caloric conversion, carcass weight, total breast meat weight, and plasma T3. These results indicated that male and female broilers from 36 to 47 d of age subjected to moderate temperatures responded to higher AMEn than previous research with 36 to 47 d old broilers reared under thermoneutral conditions.

females-RB”). At 65 wk of age 285 hens (153 from BB and 132 from RB) were housed in individual cages and fed a commercial layer ration (17% crude protein, 2800 kcal AMEn/kg, 3.7% calcium and 0.66% total phosphorus) except during the induced molting periods. Productive performance traits were recorded daily from 71 to 88 wk of age. At 0, 5, 10 and 30 days from the beginning of treatments, 10 birds were selected randomly per treatment per period and injected intramuscularly with 1 ml of 10% sheep red blood cell’s (SRBC’s) suspension prepared in 0.9% physiological saline to measure the antibody production titer against SRBC’s and Newcastle Disease Virus. Results indicated that induce molting improve productive performance whereas, no differences were detected between molting methods. Non-molting group recorded lower values for egg rate (48.0 vs. 59.7 vs. 60.8%; P < 0.0001) and feed conversion ratio (4.74 vs. 2.88 vs. 2.95; P < 0.0001) compared to Zinc and California methods, respectively. Hens molted with California method recorded higher antibody titer against SRBC’s (8.04 vs. 5.96 vs. 5.21; P < 0.0001) than hens treated with Zinc method or non-molting hens, respectively. However, the antibody titer against Newcastle Disease Virus was not affected. Hens of RB have lower productive performance but higher antibody titer against SRBC’s (7.56 vs. 5.25; P < 0.0001) than BB hens, respectively. We conclude that both molting methods have the same impact on hen’s productivity and California is better than Zinc for affecting humoral immune response. In addition, RB hens have lower productive performance but higher immunity than BB hens.