Interactive Effects of Monensin, Roxarsone, and Copper in Young Chickens Infected with Eimeria tenella or a Combination of E. tenella and E. acervulina

Abstract Experiments were conducted with crossbred male chicks to evaluate the interactions among roxarsone (50 mg/kg), monensin (121 mg/kg), and copper sulfate (100 mg/kg) as treatments for experimental Eimeria tenella and E. acervulina infections. When diets containing monensin, roxarsone, or a combination of both were offered to chicks for 15 min or 1, 3, 5, or 8 days prior to E. tenella challenge (5 × 104 sporulated oocysts), monensin fed for 15 min or roxarsone fed for 1 day prior to challenge prevented morbidity. A mixed infection of E. tenella and E. acervulina (5 × 104 and 4 × 105 sporulated oocysts, respectively) reduced gain and gain:feed conversion ratios and caused severe duodenal and cecal lesions at Day 6 of the experiment. Infected chicks gained faster when diets were supplemented with either monensin or roxarsone, but monensin produced a larger response than roxarsone. The mixed infection decreased shank pigmentation, with amelioration activity evident from monensin but not from roxarsone. Lesion scores at Day 6 indicated markedly reduced lesions in the duodenum due to monensin but not due to roxarsone; likewise, reductions in cecal lesions occurred in birds fed roxarsone but less so in birds fed monensin. Lesion scores showed little evidence of additivity due to monensin and roxarsone. In general, copper sulfate exerted no independent or interactive effect on any of the parameters evaluated. In a subsequent experiment, the effect of feeding roxarsone in combination with the biological reducing agent, cysteine, was evaluated in E. tenella- infected chicks. Rate and efficiency of gain were improved and lesion scores were reduced by supplementary roxarsone. Cysteine supplementation enhanced the roxarsone-induced feed efficiency response in infected birds.