The Correlation between Feed Consumption and Fecal Flora in Chicks

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Abstract
Penicillin caused a significant increase in weight with chicks having free access to feed but no increase when feed intake was equated. With chicks fed ad libitum, penicillin resulted in greater daily feed consumption per chick almost without exception for the first 28 days after hatching. On the other hand, feed consumption per unit of body weight was increased by the antibiotic only to about 16 days of age. These results suggest that penicillin stimulates chick growth by causing an increase in feed consumption early in the life of the bird. The real increase in feed consumption — that is, the increase per unit of body weight — caused by penicillin appeared to be associated with an increase in fecal coliforms or a decrease in fecal counts of lactobacilli, anaerobes, aerobes and enterococci groups of microorganisms, or both.