Mississippi State University's Poultry Science department runs two commercial broiler houses with a history of spondylolisthesis ("kinky back"), a spinal condition commonly caused by Enterococcus cecorum. Over several flocks, clinical signs and elevated mortality had become a recurring problem.
MSU had several critical questions:
Traditional diagnostics aren't used until issues have already started. Producers typically take action after seeing clinical signs. Then, you need to sacrifice birds and wait days to weeks for results.
Bottom line, you get answers after it is too late.
Barnwell performs weekly environmental sampling, meaning proactive surveillance across the barn. This gives producers an longitudinal view of flock health without the hassle.
You stay ahead of issues and can intervene before outbreaks.
Barnwell provided continuous pathogen surveillance for Mississippi State, covering two flocks in both of their houses. A few weeks in, we quickly caught something:
📍 Day 25: Clear Enterococcus cecorum spike detected in the environment, seen on the Barnwell dashboard. No clinical signs yet.
📍 Day 39: First kinky back signs observed. 14 days after Barnwell's detection. We are now at the point when traditional diagnostic protocols began.
📍 Day 53: PCR confirmed positive E. cecorum in House 2, 14 days after first signs (but missed in House 1). Barnwell flagged it 28 days earlier.
