Effects of delayed placement on intestinal characteristics in turkey poults.

To determine the effects of delayed access to feed on intestinal villus development, bacterial translocation, and salmonella attachment potential in turkey poults, poults were given ad libitum access to water and feed immediately after hatch (FED) or were delayed access to water and feed for 48 h (DLY). In experiment 1, FED poults were heavier until 5 d postfeeding at which time villi were 50 microm longer and 6.8 microm wider, crypts were 5.9 microm deeper, and there were more goblet cells per villus than in the DLY poults. The DLY poults also had reduced numbers of proliferating enterocytes in the villus and higher apoptotic labeling at 1, 2, and 5 d postfeeding. In experiment 2, DLY poults had higher numbers of aerobic bacteria in the ileal digesta and ileal tissue when compared with the FED poults at 1 d postfeeding. To study salmonella attachment potential to the ileum, a segment of the ileum was inoculated with a salmonella culture, incubated for 1 h at 37 degrees C, and flushed; the tissue was homogenized, and numbers of remaining salmonella were enumerated. No differences in salmonella attachment potential were noted between FED and DLY poults. In conclusion, early access to ad libitum feed in poults stimulated growth and development of small intestinal villi and their absorptive surfaces, whereas delayed access to feed resulted in delayed enterocyte proliferation and greater enterocyte apoptosis during the first week posthatch as well as greater numbers of aerobic bacteria associated with the small intestine shortly after hatch.