Effect of Dietary Organic and Inorganic Sulfur on the Performance of Coccidiosis Vaccine Challenged Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary sulfur from either organic (methyl sulfonyl methane, MSM) or inorganic (sodium sulfate, SS) sources on the growth performance of broiler chickens challenged against a high-dose coccidiosis vaccine. A total of 320 day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly placed into 32 pens of 10 birds each (keeping 16 pens/control group and 8 pens/treatment group until 21 days post-hatch) and reared for 28 days. The experimental diets were formulated by mixing a corn and soybean meal-based control diet with MSM or SS. At 21 days post-hatch, half (n = 8) of the control and all of the sulfur-added diet-fed (i.e., MSM and SS) groups were challenged with a 30-fold dose of a commercially available Eimeria vaccine (Livacox® T coccidiosis vaccine). Unchallenged control chicks (n = 8) were considered as the negative control group. At 21 days (before coccidiosis vaccine challenge), the production parameters and cecal short-chain fatty acids were not affected by dietary treatments. The concentrations of total antioxidant capacity in liver samples were elevated in both the MSM and SS groups compared with the control group (p = 0.001). During 21 to 28 days (i.e., one week post coccidiosis vaccine challenge), challenge tended to lower body weight and feed intake by an average of 5.3% (p = 0.262) and 2.8% (p = 0.504), respectively, but to increase the feed conversion ratio by an average of 2.7% (p = 0.087) compared with the non-challenged control groups. None of dietary sulfur groups affected the body weight gain, feed intake, or feed conversion ratio of vaccine-challenged chickens. Mild Eimeria-specific lesions were noted in duodenum (p = 0.006), jejunum (p = 0.017), and ceca (p = 0.047), but dietary sulfur treatments did not affect the Eimeria-induced gut lesion scores. At 28 days, Eimeria challenge significantly impaired (p = 0.001) the apparent ileal digestibility of crude protein and crude ash compared with the naïve control group. Dietary MSM increased the apparent ileal digestibility of crude ash by 15.5% on average compared with the coccidiosis vaccine control group. We conclude that dietary antioxidant sulfur of organic or inorganic origins at the inclusion level (i.e., 0.7 g sulfur/kg of diet) has a limited effect on the growth performance of chickens challenged with coccidiosis vaccine.

Botanicals: A promising approach for controlling cecal coccidiosis in poultry

“…Sulfur compounds can potentially kill Eimeria by destroying the sporozoites ( 21 ). Garlic in multiple forms, i.e., essential oils, extracts, and powders, has been used to treat coccidiosis, and it has shown anticoccidial activity due to these compounds ( 89 , 120 , 124 , 217 , 289 , 290 ).…”

“…Vaccine failure is the primary issue observed with anticoccidial vaccines ( 30 , 85 , 88 ). Vaccine failure results in vaccine-induced coccidiosis ( 89 ). Moreover, anticoccidial vaccines provide only temporary protection and require frequent repetition, especially in breeders and layer birds ( 90 , 91 ).…”

Nutritional Supplements for the Control of Avian Coccidiosis – A Review

“…Vitamin E is an essential dietary antioxidant for maintaining birds' health and immune system (Jeon et al, 2022). Marsh et al (1981) demonstrated that the nutritional deficiency of vitamin E causes an impaired immune system which is measured by the humoral immune response to the sheep erythrocytes in broilers.…”