Efficacy of administration of ampicillin and/or dimetridazole in the management of experimentally induced necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of oral administration of ampicillin and dimetridazole (DMZ) either alone or in combination for the treatment of necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens (CP) infection in broiler chickens. One hundred Hubbard chicks were allocated into five groups (A, B, C, D, and E, 20 birds each). Birds in all groups (except those in group A) were orally inoculated at the age of 15 days with 0.5 mL of CP broth culture (10 9 CFU/mL). Two days later, medications were orally given once daily for five days as follows; Group A and B were left untreated. Group C and D were treated with a therapeutic dose of ampicillin (20 mg/ kg b.wt) and DMZ (20 mg/ kg b.wt) respectively, while group E was treated with both ampicillin and DMZ. Clinical symptoms, weight gain, feed conversion rate (FCR), and the score of intestinal lesions were used to estimate the effectiveness of the investigated drugs. The results showed that administration of ampicillin and DMZ combination was followed by noticeable increases in body weight, weight gain, FCR, red blood cell count (RBCs), and hemoglobin concentration associated with a significant decrease in leukocyte. In addition, intestinal lesions in the ampicillin and DMZ groups showed nearly normal intestinal villi and enterocytes indicating recovery. The efficiency of ampicillin or DMZ was varied, but the combination of both drugs was greater. In conclusion, using ampicillin and DMZ together rather than separately was significantly more effective in controlling NE in broiler chickens.