| Abstract: | Newly hatched chicks were medicated with chlortetracycline at levels of 0, 400, 800 and 1200 mg. per imperial gallon of drinking water, for the first 5 days in the brooders. Coliform microflora of the ceca were counted when the chicks were first removed from the incubator and at 2 and 5 days of age. The numbers of coliforms decreased with increasing levels of the antibiotic and with increasing age. Sixtyfour per cent of the coliforms were E. coli and of these a large proportion were resistant to chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline in vitro. There was a trend towards increasing incidence of isolation of other resistant gram negative rods with increasing levels of chlortetracycline medication. |
