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Aim: This study was conducted to isolate generic enterobacteria from day-old broiler chicks in Nigeria, determine the antibacterial resistance profile, and assess multidrug resistance. Materials and Methods: The birds were sourced from five purposively-selected hatcheries (identified as A, B, C, D and E) in Southwest Nigeria. Non-duplicate cloacal swabs were collected from a total of 75 (15 birds per hatchery) randomly selected apparently healthy birds. Sampling was done in three batches of five chicks per batch at 2-week interval. Isolation of enterobacteria was done using MacConkey agar. The resistance of the isolates was determined using the disk diffusion method. Results: Of 15 processed samples of birds from each hatchery, all samples from hatcheries B, D, and E, 10 (66.7%) and 14 (93.3%) samples from hatcheries A and C, respectively, yielded pure cultures of Escherichia coli. Klebsiella was also isolated from 1 (7.1%) of the 14 and 2 (13.2%) of the 15 growth-positive samples from hatcheries C and D, respectively. The range of resistance among E. coli isolates was tetracycline (86.7-100%), ampicillin (80-100%), gentamicin (60-85.7%), sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (46.7-92.9%), enrofloxacin (40-100%), ciprofloxacin (26.7-86.7%), streptomycin (10-80%), cefotaxime (26.7-73.3%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (13.3-60%), and ceftazidime (6.7-40%). Klebsiella and all E. coli isolate from chicks of hatcheries B, C, and E, 80 and 93.3% of those from chicks of hatcheries A and D, respectively, exhibited resistance to three or more classes of antibacterial agents. Conclusion: Commercial day-old broiler chicks in Nigeria are colonized by multidrug-resistant coliforms (E. coli and Klebsiella) and are potential reservoirs and disseminators of these organisms.

The study was designed to evaluate the anticoccidial activity of the methanolic extract of Musa paradisiaca root in chickens. The chickens were divided into six groups of 12 chickens each. Each chicken in five groups was infected with 8,000 infective coccidia (Eimeria tenella) oocysts at day 28 of age while one group served as uninfected control. At day 7 post-infection, two chickens remaining in each group were sacrificed for postmortem examination to confirm coccidiosis. Also at day 7 post-infection, each chicken in four infected groups was given graded doses (250, 500 and 1,000 mg/kg b.w.) of the extract or amprolium (conventional drug). Two groups (an infected and uninfected group) did not receive treatment. Parameters used to assess progress of infection and response to treatment included clinical signs typical of coccidiosis, oocyst count per gramme of faeces (OPG) and packed cell volume (PCV). Treatment of previously infected chickens with M. paradisiaca root extract resulted in a progressive decrease in severity of observed clinical signs, marked reductions in OPG and a gradual increase in PCV. In each case, the changes were dose dependent. There was no significant difference in mean OPG and mean PCV of the extract (at 1,000 mg/kg b.w.) and amprolium-treated groups at termination of the study (at day 50 of age). In the acute toxicity study, the extract was found to be non-toxic to the chickens even at the highest dose of 4,000 mg/kg b.w. The results of this study demonstrated that the extract has anticoccidial activity in a dose-dependent manner and at a dosage of 1,000 mg/kg b.w. had similar efficacy with amprolium in the treatment of chicken coccidiosis.

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