It was found that the Clostridium perfringens counts in gangrenous dermatitis (GD)-positive farms were significantly higher than in GD-negative farms, and that C. perfringens counts decline over time during grow-out in an experimental poultry house.

These are the main conclusions drawn by Rommel Max T. S. L. Tan if the University of Maryland College Park and co-authors there and at Lasher Poultry Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Delaware following their descriptive study of the microbial profile of poultry litter from broiler farms with and without a history of gangrenous dermatitis and litter from an experimental poultry house. Their paper was published in Journal of Applied Poultry Research.

They explain that GD is an acute disease of broiler chickens caused by Clostridium perfringens and other bacteria. It has been observed that litter clean-out delays recurrence of GD outbreaks in poultry houses by two to three grow-out cycles but does not eliminate the problem.

Considering that litter in some poultry growing regions in the United States is reused for up to 10 grow-out cycles, a better understanding of the microbial profile of poultry litter in broiler farms with a history of GD (GD-positive), farms with no history of GD (GD-negative), and an experimental poultry house would be beneficial, according to Tan and co-authors.

Reference

^{Tan R.M.T.S.L., D.A. Bautista, K. Phillips and N.L. Tablante. 2013. Descriptive study of the microbial profile of poultry litter from broiler farms with and without a history of gangrenous dermatitis and litter from an experimental poultry house. J. Appl. Poult. Res. 22(2):344-350. doi: 10.3382/japr.2012-00593}

Further Reading

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