Effect of lactic acid bacteria probiotic culture treatment timing on Salmonella Enteritidis in neonatal broilers

In the present study, a series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the ability of a combination of 3 ATCC lactobacilli (LAB3) or a commercially available probiotic culture (PROB) to reduce Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (Salmonella Enteritidis) in broiler chicks. Additionally, we varied the timing of PROB administration in relationship to Salmonella challenge and determined the influence on recovery of enteric Salmonella. In experiments 1 to 3, chicks were randomly assigned to treatment groups and were then challenged via oral gavage with Salmonella Enteritidis. Chicks were treated 1 h after Salmonella Enteritidis challenge with LAB3 or PROB. Twenty-four hours posttreatment, cecal tonsils were collected for recovery of enteric Salmonella. In experiments 4 to 7, day-of-hatch chicks were randomly assigned to treatment groups and were then treated with PROB via oral gavage and placed into pens. Chicks were challenged with Salmonella Enteritidis 24 h after treatment via oral gavage. At 24 h after Salmonella Enteritidis challenge, cecal tonsils were collected and recovery of enteric Salmonella was determined. In experiments 8 to 10, 1-d-old chicks were randomly assigned to treatment groups and were then challenged via oral gavage with Salmonella Enteritidis and placed into pens. Chicks were treated 24 h after challenge with PROB via oral gavage. Twenty-four hours post PROB treatment, cecal tonsils were collected and enriched as described above. It was found that PROB significantly reduced cecal Salmonella Enteritidis recovery 24 h after treatment as compared with controls or LAB3-treated chicks in experiments 1 to 3 (P<0.05). Administration of PROB 24 h before Salmonella Enteritidis challenge significantly reduced recovery of Salmonella Enteritidis in 2 out of 4 experiments and no reduction in cecal Salmonella Enteritidis was observed when chicks were challenged with Salmonella Enteritidis and treated 24 h later with PROB. These data demonstrate that PROB more effectively reduced Salmonella Enteritidis than LAB3, and the timing of PROB treatment affects Salmonella Enteritidis-associated reductions.