Coccidiosis is one of the most prevalent
diseases in poultry. The objective of the current study
was to determine the effects of floor heating when
poults were artificially infected with Eimeria regarding
the outcome of the infection and secondary effects
on litter quality and health of the foot pad. Two trials
were performed. In each trial, 4 groups of 2-wkold
turkeys were reared for a 4-wk period. All birds
were fed ad libitum identical pelleted diets without any
anticoccidial additive. The first 2 groups were housed
on dry wood shavings, with and without floor heating;
the other 2 groups were housed on wet wood shavings
(35% moisture, achieved by adding water as required),
with and without floor heating. Two birds only (primary
seeder birds; the other 18 birds were nominated as
secondary infected birds) in each of the 4 groups were
experimentally infected orally with Eimeria adenoeides
(~50,000 oocysts/bird). The number of oocysts eliminated
via excreta was determined repeatedly. On d 42,