Effects of chicken-derived cecal microorganisms maintained in continuous culture on cecal colonization by Salmonella typhimurium in turkey poults.

A characterized, chicken-derived, competitive exclusion culture of cecal bacteria was evaluated for effectiveness in the reduction of Salmonella typhimurium cecal colonization in growing turkey poults. The culture was administered by crop gavage on the day of hatch. All groups were challenged orally on Day 3 with 10(4) S. typhimurium. Compared with untreated controls, the percentage of poults that were Salmonella cecal-culture-positive at 10 d of age was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in the poults provided culture. Additionally, the culture-treated poults had significantly (P < 0.05) fewer Salmonella per gram of cecal contents than the controls. The results indicated that treatment of turkey poults with the characterized chicken-derived culture effectively decreased Salmonella cecal colonization.