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Abstract
A complete ground and pelleted feed was compared to free choice feeding of whole wheat
and a pelleted protein concentrate during three experimental infections with coccidia
in broiler chickens. At 22 d of age birds were inoculated with different doses of
sporulated oocysts of a cecal species (Eimeria tenella) in experiment 1 or intestinal
species E. maxima or E. acervulina in experiments 2 and 3, respectively. The effects
of diets were assessed on weight gain, hematocrit (during cecal coccidiosis), serum
coloration (during intestinal coccidiosis), oocyst excretion, and lesion score until
7 d post-inoculation. In experiment 1 before inoculation, the birds fed whole grain
had more beneficial microflora with lower counts of coliform bacteria. As shown by
oocyst output and lesion score, whole wheat feeding increased parasite development
during infection with the cecal parasite E. tenella. This led to significantly lower
weight gain with whole wheat than with ground wheat from 5 to 6 d post-inoculation
and to lower hematocrit at the highest infective dose. Parasite development in experiments
2 and 3 was similar among diets, during intestinal infection with E. maxima and E.
acervulina, respectively, with no significant differences in lesion score. During
the acute phase (4 to 7 and 3 to 5 d post-inoculation), when a difference appeared
between diets, whole wheat fed-birds were always more affected than ground diet-fed
birds in terms of serum coloration and weight gain. These results might be explained
by modifications of digestive physiology and intestinal microflora by whole wheat.