Introduction And Purpose
Adding medication to livestock feed is a controversial subject. Some people involved in the livestock and poultry industry claim these additives prevent diseases and produce faster and more consistent animal growth. Others claim that these additives can cause disease in those of us who consume the meat and that the reward of reduced production costs is not worth the risk of problems with the meat produced. In the poultry industry, common drug additives to chicken feed are the antibiotics amprolium, penicillin, and chlortetracycline. Scientists have recently discovered strains of bacteria in the meat, which are resistant to antibiotics used in animal feed. The seriousness of this finding has been underscored by a case report of a man becoming paralyzed from an infection acquired by eating contaminated chicken. The bacteria that caused the illness are known to develop resistance to antibiotics.
In a world with a population a population as large as ours, which keeps growing, it is important that we produce food in an efficient and cost-effective manner. At the same time, we don’t want to become victims of our own methods.
This project investigates one aspect of the use of an antibiotic called amprolium, a coccidiostat, in chickens. Coccidiostats stop the growth of the protozoan coccidian, which infects chickens. Coccidiosis destroys intestinal cells, and can wipe out a whole flock. The objective of this project is to find out if and how amprolium might affect weight gain in chicks. Although amprolium is used primarily as a coccidiostat, if it were to affect significantly the weight gain in chicks, then this might be a secondary influence on the use of this drug.
This study is designed as a controlled comparison of two groups of chicks randomly assigned to standard feed with or without the addition of amprolium to the feed. The rate of weight gain in the two groups will be compared, in order to determine any noticeable effect of the amprolium.