Efficacy of maduramicin against turkey coccidiosis in battery: a clinical and pathological study

Two groups of 24 three-day-old turkeys each were inoculated with Eimeria meleagrimitis sporulated oocytes and fed a diet containing respectively 5 and 6 ppm of maduramicin ammonium. Clinical signs, mortality rates, weight gain, intestinal lesions and replication of the parasite were compared to the data obtained from a group of infected, untreated birds kept in the same experimental conditions over a period of 17 days. The treated birds showed better performances and less severe intestinal damages; the replication and the development of the parasite in the intestinal mucosa were impaired and delayed by the drug. All the data were dose dependent.