[Effects of the administration of anticoccidial vaccines and drugs on intestinal lesions and biochemical variables of broiler chicks challenged with experimental coccidiosis]

Coccidiosis is one of the most important disease in poultry. Since using of anti-coccidial drugs or vaccination are considered as the most common preventive measures of this disease, an experiment was conducted to compare effectiveness of these methods. Nine hundred and sixty day-old male Ross broiler chicks were randomly assigned to eight treatments and fed with a corn-soybean meal basal diet during experimental period. Treatments 3 and 4 received salinomycin and diclazuril as coccidiostate, respectively, but did not immunize. Chicks in treatments 5 to 8 immunized with anti-coccidial vaccines [including Livacox Q, Paracox 5, Livacox T, and Iracox, respectively] by drinking water on 5 days of age. Chicks in all treatments except treatment 1 were inoculated with a suspension of four Eimeria species on 26 days of age. From 28 days of age, blood samples were taken on a weekly and serum concentrations of beta-carotene, albumin, globulin, albumin to globulin ratio, vitamin A, and total protein were measured. One week post-challenged, 6 birds in each treatment were slaughtered and intestinal lesions were scored. The results indicated that the birds fed diets supplemented with salinomycine or diclazuril had the highest concentrations of vitamin A. Serum concentration of alpha-carotene was higher in negative control [non-infected] treatment. No significant differences were observed in relation to other serum biochemical values among treatments. It was concluded that serum concentrations of vitamin A and alpha-carotene could be considered as most important serum biochemical values in coccidian-infected broilers

Influence of dried tomato pomace as an alternative to wheat bran in maize or wheat based diets, on the performance of laying hens and traits of produced eggs

In a 2 x 3 x 2 factorial arrangement, 144, fifty-four-week-old laying hens, in 12 treatments with 12 replicates for each treatment, received one of 12 diets based on maize or wheat containing three levels of dried tomato pomace [DTP: 0, 50 and 100 g/kg] as a substitute for wheat bran, and two levels of pigment [0 and 900 mg/kg], for 9 weeks. Weight gain [WG], egg production [EP], egg weight [EW], egg mass output [EM] and feed intake [FI] were determined. Shell weight [ShW], shell thickness [ShT], Haugh unit [HU] and yolk colour score [YCS] were also measured. Maize decreased body weight of the birds and increased HU, ShW/EW ratio, ShT, and YCS of the eggs when compared with wheat diets. DTP had no effect on these parameters, but increased YCS. Pigment reduced ShW/EW ratio and ShT, but increased YCS of the eggs. There were significant interactions between the source of energy [ES] and DTP on ShT and YCS of the eggs. There were also interactions significant between ES and pigment on ShT and YCS. As an alternative for wheat bran, 100 g/kg of DTP produced comparable egg quality and laying performance, and it contributed to a deeper yolk colour

Comparison of the effects of propolis and virginia mycine on performance and immune response of broiler chicks

Three hundred and sixty male day- old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in order to evaluate the effect of propolis as growth promoter on the performance and the immune response of the broiler chicks to the ND vaccine. Each treatment contained three replicates of 30 chicks. Dietary treatments were as follow: Acorn - soy meal diet [control diet].Control diet + 3000 ppm [starter] and 2000 ppm [grower and finisher] propolis.Control diet + 6000 ppm [starter] and 4000 ppm [grower and finisher] propolis. Control diet + 100 ppm virginiamycine.The chick performance was evaluated by recording the body weight gain, feed intake, feed conservation ratio, and productive efficiency index at 21 and 42 days of age. Prior to the administration of ND vaccine [day 17] and 10 days post-vaccination, the blood sample was taken for HI test. The chicks fed diet supplemented with virginiamycin showed higher BWG, FI, PEI when compared with other treatments. However, those chick provided with dietary treatment 2 [3000 and 2000 ppm] had lower FCR. Propolis had no effect on antibody titer against ND vaccine. In this experiment propolis don't act as an immunostimulant, but appeared to be promising a potential growth promoter

identification of avian eimeria species in Iran based on biological characteristics

One hundred and fourteen litter samples from grand parent, and broiler breeder farms were taken ,according to five different climate areas, to isolate and determine biological characteristics of Eimeria species. 0.5 Kg of each litter samples was used for oocyte isolation. Then, oocytes sporulated at 28' C? for 24-48 hours by oxygenation. The single oocytes were produced and OPG, the time of oocyte excretion and sporulatoin were recorded. Oocytes replicated and isolated from dropping collected on th 4 day after oral inoculation of a single oocytes to 4-6 week chicks. Replicated oocytes of different Eimeria species were ingested by 3-6 week oocyte- free chicks [of necessary quantity] for lesion studies and biometric assay. 25 isolates of oocytes related to different Eimeria species. [E. maxima,E. tenella, E.necatrix, E.acervulina,E.brunette,E.mitis and E.praecox] were categorized based on the following factors: Location of lesions in intestine, Gross lesions condition, Oocyte size, shape and color, Schizont and merozoite size, Parasite locationin tissues, Minimum latent period in experimental infection., Minimum required time for sporulation. The resultes were finally confirmed by"Weibridge reference laboratory". The result were analysed by variance analysis was performed by SX statistical Software

Influence of calcium and non-phytate phosphorus deficient diets with phytase on the performance of broilers, serum concentrations of minerals and the activity of alanin transaminase, aspartate transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of microbial phytase [phyzyme XP5000G] supplementation in broiler chicks' diets on the performance, serum total protein [TP], minerals [Ca, Mg and P] and the serum enzyme activities [AST, ALT, LDH]. A reference -1 -1 diet adequate in calcium and non-phytate phosphorus [10.0 gkg Ca and 5 gkg nPP] and two -1 -1 -1 -1 deficient diets in Ca and nPP [8.5 gkg Ca and 3.5 gkg nPP, and 7.5 gkg Ca and 2.5 gkg nPP] -1 with or without phytase [0 and 100mgkg] were offered to broiler chicks from 1 to 21 days of age. Although the low-nPP diets had no significant effect on body weight gain [BWG] of chicks [p > 0.05] They increased [p < 0.01] feed intake [FI] and feed conversion ratio [FCR] when compared to the low-nPP diet supplemented with enzyme. Phytase had a favorable effect, although non-significantly, on BWG of chicks fed very low level of nPP. Enzyme reduced the feed intake [p < 0.05] and improved the FCR of Ca-nPP deficient chicks [p < 0.01]. The decrease in Ca-nPP content in the diet caused a significant increase in serum concentration of Ca [p < 0.05] and decrease in P concentration [p < 0.05]. Low Ca-nPP diets had no influence on serum Mg concentration. Dietary phytase reduced the Ca level and increased the P level [p < 0.05] of serum in chicks fed with Ca-nPP deficient diets. The activity of LDH increased [p < 0.01] in response to low dietary Ca and nPP, deficient but there was no influence on serum ALT and AST activity and TP content [p > 0.05]. Phytase supplementation reduced serum ALT [p < 0.05] and had no effect on AST [p > 0.05]. Serum LDH activity further increased [p < 0.01] by phytase supplementation. These results demonstrated that the performance of the chicks received low

Effect of post-hatch feeding on growth of digestive tract and performance of broilers

Effect of early- feeding of broiler chicks immediately after hatch with gel or granule, on performance, the relative weight of yolk sac, liver, proventricolus, gizzard and the relative weight of weight and length of small intestine were investigated. Analyzing the data by using SAS statistical program including complete randomly design and Duncan test, showed that post hatch feeding of gel, could increase body weight in comparison to control group [p 0.05]. The relative weight of liver and gizzard in early feeding groups increased in comparison to control group [p

[Effect of betaine on the efficacy of salinomycin in broiler chicks in experimental coccidiosis]

To study the interactive effect of betaine [BET]and salinomycin [SAL] in coccidian-infected broiler chicks.Randomized complete block with 2*2 factorialarrangement.Four hundred and eighty male Ross 308 broilerchicks.The chicks were randomly assigned to fourdietary treatments including: 1] basal diet, 2] basal dietplus .15% BET, 3] basal diet plus 66ppm SAL, and 4] basaldiet plus .15% BET plus 66ppm SAL. Each treatmentcontained 4 replicates of 30 chicks and fed ad-libitum. Allof the chicks were inoculated with a suspension of themixed culture of Eimeria oocysts on 15 days of age. Fecessamples were taken to determine the number of oocysts pergram of feces [OPG]. Plasma carotenoid concentrations[PCC] were evaluated on 14 and 28 days of age. Bodyweight gain [BWG], feed intake [FI], feed conversion ratio[FCR], and Europeanefficiencyfactor [EEF] weredetermined to evaluate broiler's performance.General linear model [GLM] andDuncan's multiple range test.Supplementation of diets with 66 ppmSALsignificantly on improved the performance, increased thePCC [P<0.05], and decreased the OPG. Adding 0.15% BETalone did not affect production performance, PCC andOPG significantly [P> 0.05]. Diet containing 66 ppm SALsupplemented with 0.15% BET significantly increased theBWG, EEF, and PCC while it decreased the FCR and OPG[P< 0.05].The results of this experimental studyindicated that BET at the level of 0.15% could increase theefficacy of SAL for preventing deleterious effects ofcoccidiosis in broiler chicks

[Effect of administration of anti-coccidial drugs and vaccines on broiler chicks performance in experimental coccidiosis]

To compare the effect of coccidiostate drugs and coccidial vaccines on the perfrormance of coccidia - infected broiler chicks. Completely randomized design.Nine hundred and sixty day-old Ross 208 broiler chicks. Chicks were randomly assigned to eight treatments. Each treatment contained 3 replicates of 40 chicks. Treatment 1 and 2 [as negeative and positive control] did not receive any coccidiostates or coccidial vaccines. Treatments 3 and 4 fed diets supplemented with Salinomycine and Diclazoril respectively, but did not immunize. Treeatments 5 to 8 immunized with coccidial vaccines [including Livacox Q, Paracox 5, Livacox T, and Iracoc, respectively] by drinking water on 5 days of age. Chicks in treatments 2 to 8 were inoculated with a suspension containing four Eimeria species on 26 days of age. Surveillances for coccidian oocysts of feces samples were carried out from 7 to 13 days of post-challanged. Body weight [BW], body weight gain [BWG], and feed conversion ratio [FCR] were determined weekly. Data for all response variables were subjected to ANOVA. Variable means for treatments showing significant differences in the ANOVA, were compared using the scheffe's test. The results indicated that using coccidial vaccines and coccidiostate drugs decreased oocysts per gram [OPG] of feces significantly [P<0.05]. The highest mean of BW was related to the chicks treated with salinomycine with significant differences in BW among treatments. The lowest FCR was related to non-challanged chicks [negative control].According to the results of this experimental trial, it could be concluded that coccidial vaccines and coccidiostate drugs could decrease the OPG significantly and improve production performance partially, in coccidia-infected broiler chicks