Efficacy of multistrain direct-fed microbial and phytogenetic products in reducing necrotic enteritis in commercial broilers.

Our laboratory is evaluating the efficacy of direct-fed microbials (DFM) and phytogenic products to control Clostridium perfringens, a gram-positive organism associated with decreased performance and morbidity and mortality associated with necrotic enteritis, as well as some recent human food safety issues. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate a DFM (PoultryStar) and a phytogenic product (PEP125), which were administered to birds from day of hatch until termination (d 25) via the drinking water or through supplementation to a wheat-corn diet, respectively. Each experiment contained a nonchallenged negative control and a positive control wherein birds were immunocompromised with a 10x dosage of infectious bursal disease vaccine at 14 d of age and subsequently gavaged with C. perfringens (10(7) cfu/mL) daily for 3 consecutive days starting on d 17. Intestinal lesions, mortality, and log10 values of C. perfringens in the probiotic and phytogenic treatment groups were found to be lower (P<0.05) than those observed in the positive controls. These experiments suggest that the DFM and the phytogenic product could be used as potential alternatives to help control C. perfringens and necrotic enteritis.