Therapeutic trials with native intestinal microflora for Salmonella typhimurium infections in chickens.

Chicks infected with Salmonella typhimurium at 1 day of age were treated with normal intestinal flora starting 3 or 9 days later. Chicks were reared on the floor in isolated pens with wood shavings for litter. Cloacal-swab cultures were the main criteria for determining S. typhimurium infection. A single treatment reduced the infection period, but multiple treatments hastened the process considerably: after 6-8 weeks, birds given multiple treatments yielded sporadic or no isolations of S. typhimurium. It appears that litter from birds colonized by a protective microflora may serve as a vehicle for transmitting the flora to succeeding groups of birds.