Testing the Efficacy of Fermented Wheat Germ Extract Against Mycoplasma gallisepticum Infection of Chickens

ABSTRACT The effect of fermentedwheat germ extract (FWGE, Immunovet-HBM) was studied in chickens chal-lenged withMycoplasma gallisepticum. NinetyM. gallisept-icum- and M. synoviae-free 3-wk-old chickens were exposed to aerosol infection of M. gallisepticum. One group (30 birds) was treated with FWGE, a second group with tiamulin, and a third group was untreated. The fourth group was exposed to PBS aerosol as a negative control. On d 9, all chickens were slaughtered and exam-ined for the presence of gross and histological lesions, the presence of the challenge strain in the organs and specific antibodies in the serum. Body weight gains and feed conversion rateswere recorded. In the groups treated with FWGE and with tiamulin, the chickens remained clinically healthy: their BW gains were 441.7 g and 446.8 g, respectively. Feed conversion ratios were 1.72 and 1.71 (Key words: broiler, fermented wheat germ extract treatment, Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection