Research Note: In Ovo Administration of a Competitive Exclusion Culture Treatment to Broiler Embryos

Exposure of chicks to salmonellae in the hatchery and hatchery environment limits the effectiveness of a competitive exclusion (CE) culture treatment. Therefore, in an attempt to apply treatment before chicks are exposed to salmonellae, the CE culture was introduced in ovo to unhatched embryos. An undefined, anaerobically grown CE culture, derived from cecal contents of healthy adult chickens, was diluted 1:1,000 or 1:1,000,000 and inoculated either into the air cell or beneath the inner air cell membrane of 17-day-old incubating hatching eggs. The treated chicks were more resistant than untreated chicks to varying challenge levels of Salmonella typhimurium, indicating that it may be possible to initiate protection of chicks to salmonellae challenge prior to hatching into a contaminated environment.