Evaluation of Procedures to Disperse Inoculated Salmonella in Poultry Feeds

Establishing known levels of inoculated tracer Salmonella in poultry feeds greatly aids in testing feed sampling techniques and in determining infectivity of contaminated feeds. Three methods were compared for obtaining an even dispersion of inoculated Salmonella in mash and pelleted feed. A twin-shell blender, which tumbled the feed in a “V”-shaped container, was most efficient with recovery of inoculated Salmonella in 49 of 50 samples. Shaking in a polyethylene bag was also effective; inoculated Salmonella were recovered from 45 of 50 samples. A Waring blender was least effective; Salmonella were recovered in only 16 of 50 samples.