Revised approval for poultry anticoccidial

Coccidiostat Deccox, sold by animal health firm Zoetis, has had its withdrawal period reduced from three days to zero.

Zoetis says the revised approval will give producers more flexibility in coccidiosis control strategies, allowing application right up to thin and into the latter stages of growth.

Deccox is a synthetic – sometimes called a chemical – anticoccidial used as a feed additive in control programmes. Its active ingredient is decoquinate.

“This could offer producers a great opportunity to benefit from a chemical clean up of coccidia in their flocks, without having to be concerned about withdrawal periods,” said Tony Grainger, poultry manager for Zoetis in the UK and Ireland.

General advice is not to use the same in-feed anticoccidial for extended periods, according to Zoetis, but to rotate among different classes of ionophores and to rest each product periodically. Use of a synthetic or chemical product once a year is recommended to clean up field strains.