A new product has been introduced by Zoetis to combat coccidiosis – a constant challenge on many poultry farms with the full extent of the problem often not appreciated.
The pathogens Eimeria maxima, Eimeria acervulina and Eimeria tenella are three species that commonly cause coccidiosis in broilers, which can have very significant economic impacts.
Ionophores are widely used for control, but resistance can start to build up over time. The new synthetic coccidiostat Avi-Deccox has been launched by Zoetis to counter this build-up of resistance as part of an overall control programme.
This is a reformulation of ‘Deccox’, containing decoquinate as the active ingredient, with uniformly sized, dust-free granules and increased flowing ability.
“Many businesses rely very heavily on ionophores in their control programmes and there’s often a reluctance to rotate treatments, adding to the risk of resistance building up,” said John Kenyon, national veterinary manager at Zoetis. “When using an ionophore, you should carefully consider how long it is used for before switching to a product from another anticoccidial class. The different mode of action with synthetic or ‘chemical’ coccidiostats such as Avi-Deccox achieves a greater knock-down in the short term, and they can be incorporated for brief periods into a rotational programme before switching back to an ionophore”.
Kenyon recommends the use of lesion scoring alongside coccidiosis control programmes. “If you suspect a problem, arrange for your vet or area manager to do lesion scoring at key periods in the cycle when you would expect to see clinical signs of coccidiosis infection – typically with the two birds at three to four weeks of age. This will give you the best insight into the challenges being faced by the birds”.
“Other indicators of possible coccidiosis issues can be inferior gut health, birds flicking feed from the pan and undigested feed in the droppings. You may see mucus or gut lining within the droppings or in older broilers even large amount blood in their droppings and increased mortalities. There can also be more subtle signs such as water consumption irregularities”.
Coccidiosis is ubiquitous in poultry production. The highly resistant features of oocysts in the house environment, coupled with the extremely high replicative capacity make it unfeasible to completely remove the challenges from poultry houses, so businesses need careful planning of intelligent coccidiosis control programmes.