Prevalence of Campylobacter and Salmonella in the cecal droppings of turkeys during production

dCecal droppings from four commercial turkey hocks (two flocks of hell and two flocks of toms) were analyzed for the presence of naturally occurring s almonellae at ages 6, 10, and 15 weeks and for the presence of Campylobacte r spp at ages 3! 6, 10, and 15 weeks. The salmonellae contamination rates i n these turkey hocks appeared to be somewhat different from that observed i n broiler production. With broilers, salmonellae contamination in cecal dro ppings typically peaks at about 3 weeks of age and then steadily declines t o almost zero pl prior to processing. In this study, the presence of salmon ellae remained through grow-out (40% in tools and 13% in hens at 15 weeks o f age). Campylobacter was maintained in a high percentage of turkey cecal d roppings though production (77% in toms and 80% in hens at 15 weeks of age) , which is similar to the trend observed for broilers. For Campylobacter an d salmonellae, the percentage of positive droppings was slightly higher for toms than for hens. Overall, a higher pet centage of commercial turkeys, r egardless of sex, had Campylobacter in their ceca and intestinal tract as o pposed to salmonellae. For toms, 80% were Campylobacter positive, and only 31.1% were salmonellae positive. For hens, 70% were Campylobacter positive, and only 17.7% were salmonellae positive.