Species composition of the microflora of the digestive system in broiler turkeys in the early period of ontogenesis

The article presents the results of research on the morphological, cultural and biochemical properties of the microflora of the digestive system in broiler turkeys aged 1, 14 and 30 days. The turkeys (n = 15) were kept in the vivarium of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Infectious and Invasive Diseases of the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology. Bird feeding was consistent with their age with free access to water. According to the results of the conducted research, the quantitative and qualitative microbiocoenosis of various parts of the birds' digestive system was determined. The material for bacteriological studies was composed by swabs from the oral cavity, samples of the content of the esophagus, the glandular and muscular stomach, the ileum, caecum and rectum, obtained after slaughtering of birds in the three age periods. It has been established that changing the diet of birds along with their ageing process with coarser feed increases the number of conditionally pathogenic bacterial microflora by several times...