Salmonella colonization in young chickens given feed supplemented with the growth promoting antibiotic avilamycin

The feed given to young broiler chickens was contaminated artificially with Salmonella kedougou, a serotype associated with both subclinical infections in commercially reared chickens and food poisoning in humans. No evidence was obtained to suggest that the growth promoting antibiotic avilamycin, added to the feed at the rate of either 2.5 ppm or 10 ppm, had the undesirable side-effect of favouring the colonization of the intestinal tract of the birds with Salmonella kedougou when they were challenged with this organism in the feed.