Efficacy of in-feed preparations of an anticoccidial, multienzyme, prebiotic, probiotic, and herbal essential oil mixture in healthy and Eimeria spp.-infected broilers

Abstract

The efficacies of 5 widely used dietary supplements were investigated on performance indices, fecal oocyst excretion, lesion score, and intestinal tract measurements in healthy and Eimeria spp.-infected birds by using a comparative model. This study included 2,400 sexed Ross 308 broiler chicks that were equally divided in 2 groups: the infected group, experimentally infected with oocysts of mixed Eimeria spp. at 14 d of age, and the healthy controls. The birds in both groups were further divided equally into 6 groups, of which one was fed a basal diet and served as control without treatment and the other 5 served as experimental treatments. These 5 groups were fed 5 diets containing preparations of 60 mg/kg of anticoccidial salinomycin (SAL), 1 g/kg of multienzyme (ENZ), 1 g/kg of probiotic (PRO), 1 g/kg of prebiotic (PRE), and 40 mg/kg of an herbal essential oil mixture (EOM). Body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) showed significant improvement in the infected animals, which indicates that dietary supplemental regimens with SAL, ENZ, PRO, and PRE initiated in 1-d-old chicks reduced adverse effects after challenge with coccidiosis; however, chicks that were administered EOM failed to show such improvement. Uninfected chickens showed significant improvement in FCR with supplements SAL, PRE, and EOM, which signifies significant (P < 0.01) infection by supplement interactions for BW gain and FCR. In the infected group, all of the supplements reduced the severity of coccidiosis lesions (P < 0.01) induced by mixed Eimeria spp. through the middle and lower regions of the small intestines, whereas supplementation with SAL or EOM alone was effective (P < 0.01) in reducing oocyst excretion compared with the control treatment. The data indicated that use of these subtherapeutically efficacious supplements (except EOM) in broiler production can lessen the depression in growth due to coccidial challenge.

Effect of hops β-acids (Humulus lupulus) on performance and intestinal health of broiler chickens

“…In recent literature [22] it has been reported that common in-feed performance enhancers, including essential oils of medicinal herbs, can potentially replace antimicrobials in broiler nutrition. According to those authors, scientific evidence has shown that these additives can be used to improve the intestinal health of broilers, mainly when different types of challenge are present, to avoid subclinical diseases.…”

Expression of host defense peptides in the intestine of Eimeria-challenged chickens

“…Although these are effective, the development of drug resistance and consumer concerns about chemical residues in poultry products have caused a decrease in the use of anticoccidial drugs (Quiroz-Castaneda and Dantan-Gonzalez, 2015). The use of natural alternatives such as fats, antioxidants, essential oils, herbal extracts, prebiotics, and probiotics have shown some promise in ameliorating the negative effects of coccidiosis (Bozkurt et al, 2014;QuirozCastaneda and Dantan-Gonzalez, 2015). The cost of production, however, of these natural alternatives is currently high, but the cost can be offset by increased performance and use of a more environmental and consumer friendly product.…”

Performance and Cecal Bacteria Counts of Broilers Fed Low Protein Diets With and Without a Combination of Probiotic and Prebiotic

“…When birds are reared under suboptimal experimental conditions, feed additives are more efficient (Orban et al, 1997). Growth-promoting effects of probiotic and prebiotic were more pronounced under coccidial challenge conditions rather than under unchallenged conditions (Bozkurt et al, 2014). In addition, it is reported that under clean or hygienic condition, broilers do not need any feed additives for maximum growth (Baurhoo et al, 2009).…”

“…Supplementation with probiotics and prebiotics can improve the performance of broiler chickens (Kim et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2012;Houshmand et al, 2012b;Salim et al, 2013;Bozkurt et al, 2014). Also, their positive effects on protein utilization have been indicated.…”