Natural subclinical salmonella infection in chickens: a potential model for testing the effects of various procedures on salmonella shedding.

The influence of growth additives on the duration of salmonella shedding has been variously reported. The different conclusions reached were mainly because of the different experimental systems used. In this paper a naturally infected chicken model for evaluating this problem is described. It simulates commercial conditions and proved to be reproducible in 13 groups, each of 125 birds, over a two-year period.