Effects of cimetidine on broiler fattening and on stress-induced gizzard erosion in chicken

The work describes the effects of cimetidine on stress-induced gizzard eros ions (Experiment A) and the influence of the long-term application (42 days ) of the same drug on weight gain and feed consumption during broiler fatte ning (Experiment B). For Experiment A, 60 male, three-day-old chicks were d ivided into two groups: C (n = 30) - control chicks treated with 0.5 mi sal ine; CIM (n = 30) - chicks treated with cimetidine in a dose of 5 mg/kg bod y weight (b. w.) intragastrically. All chicks were stressed using a modifie d water-immersion stress method according to which the chicks, after 24 h o f feed deprivation, were immersed in tap water (17 degrees C) for a few sec onds. Under chloroform anaesthesia ten chicks from each group were killed 1 , 2 and 3 h after the stressing. The morphometric analysis of gizzard erosi on (GE) and histopathological examinations of gizzards were performed for e ach chick. In Experiment B, 32 one-day-old broilers of both sexes were used . The control group was untreated (n = 16) while the CIM group (n = 16) was fed the same diet supplemented with 10 mg of cimetidine per kilogram of fe ed throughout the fattening period (42 days). The results of Experiment A s howed decreased mean length of the GE in the cimetidine-treated birds as co mpared with the GE lesions of the controls. In Experiment B, the treated ch icks had reduced liveweight (1835.1 g), carcass weight (1474.6 g) and incre ased feed consumption (2115 g of feed per kilogram of weight gain) compared to the controls in which the same parameters were 1898.5 g, 1574.2 g and 1 797 g, respectively. The results show that while stress-induced GE of chick s can be medicated pharmacologically, long-term application of the same sub stance impairs the results of fattening.