Evaluation of Anherbal Compound, a Commercial Probiotic, and an Antibiotic Growth Promoter on the Performance, Intestinal Bacterial Population, Antibody Titers, and Morphology of the Jejunum and Ileum of broilers

Abstract

The current study was conducted to examine the effects of an herbal compound, a probiotic and an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) on the performance, intestinal bacterial population, antibody titers, and morphology of the jejunum and ileum of broilers. A number of 240 male Ross 308 broilers were distributed into four treatments, with five replicates of 12 bird each. The experimental period was 42 days. Treatments includes: 1) basal diet; 2) basal diet supplemented with an AGP (phospho-flavomycin at 450 mg/kg of diet); 3) basal diet supplemented with a Lactobacillus-containing probiotic (250 mg/kg of diet); and 4) basal diet supplemented with an herbal compound (containing thyme, oregano, chamomile, and peppermint essential oils at 1 g/kg of diet). Body weight (BW) and cumulative feed intake (CFI) were measured weekly. Blood parameters, intestinal morphology, vaccine immunity titers, and intestinal microbial population were measured on day 42. The results showed that probiotic and herbal compound supplementation significantly increased body weight (BW) and decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p<0.05), in comparison with the basal diet. A significant increase in vaccine titers against Avian Influenza, Newcastle disease, and Infectious Bursal Disease were achieved with the treatment with herbal compound supplementation. Herbal compound significantly reduced triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL concentration and ALP, AST and ALT activities and increased the HDL levels in blood serum of chicks (p<0.05). The bacterial load of E. coli, Salmonella and coliforms of the AGP-fed group was significantly lower than those fed the control diet. Significant increases in villus height and decrease in crypt depth and goblet cells were seen in the ileum and jejunum of probiotic-fed broilers (p<0.05). In conclusion, better overall immune status and blood biochemical parameters were obtained with the herbal compound than with the probiotic; however, the performance of broilers fed the probiotic was better than that of the broilers fed the herbal compound and the AGP.

Relative Effects of Dietary Administration of a Competitive Exclusion Culture and a Synbiotic Product, Age and Sampling Site on Intestinal Microbiota Maturation in Broiler Chickens

“…Similarly, dietary probiotics did not have an immunomodulatory role and had no significant effects on IBD antibody levels in the experiment of Talebi et al (2008) [ 67 ]. In contrast, other authors reported that probiotic supplementation increased antibody titres against Newcastle disease and IBD virus [ 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ]. Broilact showed a tendency to increase the IBD titre values compared to control group in our experiment at d 7 and 40; however, its effect was not significant.…”

Effect of Essential Oil and Organic Acid on Performance, Gut Health, Bacterial Count and Serological Parameters in Broiler

“…The reduction in lowdensity cholesterol is the inhibition of specific enzymes like peroxidase and dehydrogenase by herbal extracts (essential oils). Moreover, active ingredients of these essential oils like carvacrol and thymol have a limiting effect on lethal metabolites, resulting in increased blood cholesterol levels (Hedayati & Manafi, 2018).…”

Growth, Carcass Composition, Haematology and Immunity of Broilers Supplemented with Sumac Berries (Rhus coriaria L.) and Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

“…Other researchers have noted that thyme, either alone or in combination with other herbs, produced no change in response to vaccination for Newcastle Disease, but low levels of suplementation were used [11]. A multiple herbal supplement containing thyme, oregano, chamomile, and peppermint essential oils has improved vaccine titers against avian influenza and Newcastle disease [36], and another supplement with thyme, cinnamon, and turmeric has shown similar responses in titer in response to Newcastle Disease vaccination [6]. However, in such studies it is not possible to determine which herbs were causing the response.…”

“…From these seven treatment groups, 1 bird/replicate was used for blood sampling, for immunity parameters a different bird was used from each replicate, and for carcass samples yet another bird was used from each replicate. The birds in the control group were given the basal diet, while those in treatment groups were given supplements as detailed below: Treatment 1: Basal diet (control); T1: Basal diet + thyme powder at 1% from days 29-42 T2: Basal diet + thyme powder at 2% from days 29-42 T3: Basal diet + thyme powder at 3% from days 29-42 S1: Basal diet + sumac powder at 1% from days 29-42 S2: Basal diet + sumac powder at 2% from days 29-42 S3: Basal diet + sumac powder at 3% from days [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] The basal diet consisted of a three-phase feeding program: starter feed from d 1-7, grower feed from d 8-24, and finisher feed from d [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. The ingredients and nutrient composition of the diets are shown in Table 1.…”