No Association Found Between the Ascites Syndrome in Broilers and Feeding of Oats Contaminated with Deoxynivalenol Up to Thirty-Five Days of Age

This study investigated the possible effects of feeding broilers oats that were naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON) on development of the ascites syndrome. Four groups of 240 birds were fed complete feed mixtures with graded amounts of contaminated oats giving from .1 (control) to 3.4 mg DON/kg feed. The broiler chickens were 1 d old at start of trial and were slaughtered at Day 35. Performance and carcass quality were not affected by the mycotoxin in the diets. No clinical signs of ascites or occurrence of other treatment-related lesions were detected.