Reduction of Salmonella in the crop of broiler chickens subjected to feed withdrawal

Broilers were challenged with 10(9) Salmonella typhimurium and then were provided a glucose-based cocktail supplemented with 0 to 15% glucose during feed withdrawal in battery cages or in pens on litter. After feed withdrawal, broilers were processed, and their crops were aseptically removed and weighed. Crops were then stomached in distilled water, and the pH of the suspension was measured electronically. Salmonella typhimurium, Enterobacteriaceae, and lactic acid bacteria in the crop suspensions were enumerated on the appropriate bacteriological medium. Findings indicated that fewer S. typhimurium and other Enterobacteriaceae were recovered from the crops of broilers provided the cocktail supplemented with 7.5% glucose than from the crops of broilers provided either water or cocktails supplemented with lower or higher concentrations of glucose. Inhibition of the growth of S. typhimurium and other Enterobacteriaceae in the crops of broilers provided the cocktail supplemented with 7.5% glucose was generally associated with increased growth of lactic acid bacteria and decreased crop pH. Providing the cocktail to broilers before shipping to processing plants may reduce the number of food-borne pathogens that poultry carry into processing plants.