Comparison of Certain Antibiotics in Several Chick Starter Rations

Abstract

Recent investigations in poultry nutrition have created new opportunities to combine feedstuffs into more efficient and less costly rations. It has been reported that certain antibiotics have growth-stimulating properties under given conditions, and exert a beneficial effect on hatchability. Unfortunately, much of the extant literature has been reported piecemeal; either several antibiotics were compared in a single ration or a single antibiotic was fed in different rations. This investigation was undertaken, therefore, in an attempt to co-ordinate the evidence on selected antibiotics, and to do this under typical Hawaiian conditions. The latter objective appeared justified since no report was reviewed on studies dealing with antibiotic feed supplementation under tropical conditions. Furthermore, many of the ingredients fed in mainland trials are not imported in Hawaii, and as a consequence it was not known whether the beneficial effects noted above could be obtained locally.