Performance Studies on a Medication Program with Oxytetracycline and Doxycycline Combination for Prevention of Mycoplasma gallisepticum Infection in Breeding Chickens

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A combination of continuous feeding of oxytetracycline (OTC) and intermittent administration of doxycycline (DOTC) was evaluated in breeding chickens on a larger-scale test for 50weeks beginning with the day of hatching.Serological data indicated that the combination provided a satisfactory control on Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) infection. No MG was recovered during the test period. Birds treated with DOTC alone intermittently and nonmedicated control birds converted to be serologically MGpositive and produced MG.Egg-production data indicated that the hens treated with the combination showed 16 and 37 eggs/hen housed advantage, as compared with those intermittently treated and nonmedicated, respectively. Hatchability was higher in those treated with the combination. Those numbers were within the standard of the employed HN strain standard performance. In conclusion, the combination was judged to be safe and applicable to breeder flocks to keep them MG-free.