Nutritional interventions to support broiler chickens during Eimeria infection
Santos, R.R.; Velkers, F.C.; Vernooij, J.C.M.; Star, L.; Heerkens, J.L.T.; Harn, J. van; Jong, I.C. de
(2022) Poultry Science, volume 101, issue 6, pp. 1 - 12
(Article)
Abstract
Different combinations of gut health-promoting dietary interventions were tested to support broilers during different stages of Eimeria infection. One-day-old male Ross 308 broilers (n = 720) were randomly assigned to one of 6 dietary treatments, with 6 pens per treatment and 20 birds per pen, for 35 d. At 7
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d of age (d7), all birds were inoculated with 1000, 100, and 500 sporulated oocysts of E. acervulina, E. maxima, and E. tenella, respectively. A 4-phase feeding schedule was provided. The dietary treatments (TRT) 1 to 4 included the basal diet supplemented with multispecies probiotics from d0 to 9 and coated butyrate and threonine from d28 to 35 but received four different combinations of prebiotics and phytochemicals from d9 to 18 and d18 to 28. The basal diet for the positive control (PC, TRT5) included diclazuril as a anticoccidial. The negative control (NC, TRT6) contained no anticoccidial. Performance was assessed for each feeding phase, and oocyst output, Eimeria lesion scores, cecal weight, litter quality, and footpad lesions were assessed at d14, d22, d28, and d35. Body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI) were not affected by dietary treatment. PC broilers had the best feed conversion ratio (FCR) of all treatments from d0 to 35 (P < 0.001). None of the dietary treatments resulted in better litter quality or reduced footpad lesions compared to the PC. Moreover, the PC was most effective in reducing oocyst output and lesion scores compared to all other treatments. However, broilers that received the multispecies probiotics (d0 to 9), saponins (d9 to 18), saponins, artemisin, and curcumin (d18 to 28), and coated butyrate and threonine (d28 to 35) had the best FCR (P < 0.001) and lowest oocyst output and lesion scores compared to other dietary treatments. This study suggests that although the tested compounds did not perform as well as the anticoccidial, when applied in the proper feeding period, they may support bird resilience during coccidiosis infection.
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Keywords: coccidiosis, nutrition, performance, broiler
ISSN: 0032-5791
Publisher: Poultry Science Association
Note: Funding Information: The corresponding author, I.C. de Jong, received financial project funding support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality (The Netherlands), ForFarmers Nederland B.V., Coppens Diervoeding B.V., ABZ Diervoeding B.V., De Hoop Mengvoeders B.V., E.J. Bos Diervoeding B.V., Vitelia Voeders B.V., Biomin, Orffa Additives B.V. and Delacon Biotechnik GmbH. Funding Information: The authors thank Jean-Michel Reperant, Martine Thomas-Hénaff and Chantal Benoit (ANSES, Laboratoire de Ploufragan-Plouzané, Ploufragan, France) for kindly providing the E. acervulina strain and their advice. Rick van der Ende is thanked for his help during the design, execution and analysis of the experiment. This research was performed within the public-private partnership project ‘To Control Coccidiosis’ (TKI-AF-18022). The financial support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality (The Netherlands), ForFarmers Nederland B.V. Coppens Diervoeding B.V. ABZ Diervoeding B.V. De Hoop Mengvoeders B.V. E.J. Bos Diervoeding B.V. Vitelia Voeders B.V. Biomin, Orffa Additives B.V. and Delacon Biotechnik GmbH is gratefully acknowledged. The corresponding author, I.C. de Jong, received financial project funding support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality (The Netherlands), ForFarmers Nederland B.V. Coppens Diervoeding B.V. ABZ Diervoeding B.V. De Hoop Mengvoeders B.V. E.J. Bos Diervoeding B.V. Vitelia Voeders B.V. Biomin, Orffa Additives B.V. and Delacon Biotechnik GmbH. The authors declare no other conflict of interest. Funding Information: The authors thank Jean-Michel Reperant, Martine Thomas-Hénaff and Chantal Benoit (ANSES, Laboratoire de Ploufragan-Plouzané, Ploufragan, France) for kindly providing the E. acervulina strain and their advice. Rick van der Ende is thanked for his help during the design, execution and analysis of the experiment. This research was performed within the public-private partnership project ‘To Control Coccidiosis’ (TKI-AF-18022). The financial support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality (The Netherlands), ForFarmers Nederland B.V., Coppens Diervoeding B.V., ABZ Diervoeding B.V., De Hoop Mengvoeders B.V., E.J. Bos Diervoeding B.V., Vitelia Voeders B.V., Biomin, Orffa Additives B.V. and Delacon Biotechnik GmbH is gratefully acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors
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