Intracloacal Salmonella typhimurium infection of broiler chickens: reduction of colonization with anaerobic organisms and dietary lactose

The combined effect of treatments with dietary lactose plus anaerobic organisms on cecal colonization of broiler chicks by Salmonella typhimurium was evaluated. Chickens treated with a combination of anaerobic organisms and 7% dietary lactose were resistant to cecal colonization by S. typhimurium. The number of recoverable S. typhimurium cells per gram of cecal contents taken on days 10 and 15 after infection was significantly reduced. Treatment with anaerobes without the addition of lactose did not effectively control cecal colonization. Intracloacal inoculations with bacterial concentrations that varied by 10,000-fold resulted in roughly similar levels of colonization. The treatments resulted in reduced cecal pH and elevated levels of undissociated volatile fatty acids. Statistically significant correlations (P less than 0.01) were observed between the S. typhimurium concentrations in cecal material and the concentrations of undissociated fatty acids (r = -0.79, and between the bacterial counts and pH (r = 0.72).