PCR detection of Campylobacter species present in the intestinal and yolk contents of chicks on the day of hatching. Ten embryonating eggs were obtained from a sarafloxacin-treated broiler breeder flock and hatched in a research hatching cabinet. In addition, 10 chicks from this flock were obtained from the commercial hatchery. On the day of hatching, the ileal, cecal, and yolk contents were aseptically removed, and the DNA was extracted. PCR targeting Campylobacter was performed with pooled samples, and the amplicons were separated on a 1.5% agarose gel. (A) 16S rRNA PCR results for chicks hatched in the research cabinet. Pooled yolk, ileum, and cecum samples contained Campylobacter DNA. Lane 1 contained DNA molecular weight markers, lane 2 contained C. jejuni ATCC 33560 as the positive control, lane 3 contained ileal contents, lane 4 contained cecal contents, lane 5 contained yolk contents, and lane 6 contained a control (no DNA template). (B and C) PCR results for chicks hatched in the research facility (B) and for chicks obtained from the commercial hatchery (C), obtained by using primers specific for the ceuE gene of C. coli. Pooled yolk, ileum, and cecum samples from chicks hatched in the research facility contained C. coli DNA, while only the pooled yolk samples from the commercial hatchery were positive. Lane 1, DNA molecular weight markers; lane 2, C. coli M1-19 (positive control); lane 3, ileal contents; lane 4, cecal contents; lane 5, yolk contents; lane 6, control containing no DNA template.