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Self‐selection of the analgesic drug carprofen by lame broiler chickens
Author(s) -
Danbury T. C.,
Weeks C. A.,
WatermanPearson A. E.,
Kestin S. C.,
Chambers J. P.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.146.11.307
Subject(s) - carprofen , lameness , flock , broiler , analgesic , zoology , veterinary medicine , biology , medicine , surgery , pharmacology
Lame and sound broilers, selected from commercial flocks, were trained to discriminate between different coloured feeds, one of which contained carprofen. The two feeds were then offered simultaneously and the birds were allowed to select their own diet from the two feeds. In an initial study to assess the most appropriate concentration of drug, the plasma concentrations of carprofen were linearly related to the birds' dietary intake. The walking ability of lame birds was also significantly improved in a dose‐dependent manner and lame birds tended to consume more analgesic than sound birds. In a second study, in which only one concentration of analgesic was used, lame birds selected significantly more drugged feed than sound birds, and that as the severity of the lameness increased, lame birds consumed a significantly higher proportion of the drugged feed.