Is white striping of the breast affected by the coccidiosis control program?

White Striping (WS) is an alteration of breast muscle characterized by the presence of visible white stripes between muscle fibers that is becoming increasingly important in meat-type heavy chickens. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of coccidiosis control program and diet on WS. Four groups of 140 broiler chickens were randomly allotted to the four experimental treatments: Control (C), Coccidiostat (Cox), Vaccinated (V), and Vaccinated fed a Low Energy diet (VLE) were slaughtered at 51 days of age and all breasts have been scored for WS (0= no WS, 1= mild WS, 2= severe WS). Mean BW were 3.5±0.3, 3.7±0.3, 3.6±0.3 and 3.7±0.3 kg, and mean DWG were 67.6±5.8, 71.1±5.5, 69.6±6.9 and 71.2±6.3 g/day, for C, Cox, V and VLE, respectively, being significant (P<0.05) the difference C vs Cox and VLE. No BW differences were observed between Cox and V groups that received the same diet, nor between the two vaccinated groups fed different diets. Mean FCR were 1.97±0.07, 1.92±0.10, 1.90±0.08, 1.84±0.10, for C, Cox, V and VLE, respectively (ns). The WS prevalence was above 90% in all groups. The prevalence of WS score 2 was 54.0, 81.2, 62.5 and 68.6% whereas the mean WS scores were 1.50, 1.79, 1.58 and 1.63, for C, Cox, V and VLE, respectively, being significant (P<0.001) the difference Cox vs C and V. The prevalence of WS grade 2 causes breast downgrade that results in economic losses, and the mean WS score was higher in birds treated with coccidiostat than in vaccinated ones, but no difference was observed due to the diet. These results could be explained by the different growing curves of the groups. This study provided a new perspective for the control of WS prevalence and a starting point for further studies.