Comparison of the effect of anticoccidial drug, probiotic, synbiotic, phytochemicals and vaccine in prevention and control of coccidiosis in broiler chickens challenged with Eimeriaspp

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of an anti-coccidiosis drug, vaccine, probiotic, symbiotic, and phytochemicals in the prevention and control of coccidia infection in broilers. A total of 525 one-day-old Ross 308 chicks were randomly allocated to seven experimental diets with five replicates of 15 birds each in a completely randomized design. Experimental diets consisted of negative control (NC) without any additives and not challenged. The other 6 groups were challenged with mixed Eimeriaand fed the basal diet with no additives (Positive Control, PC) or supplemented with Coxidine 250, probiotic, synbiotic, Livacox T vaccine and phytobiotic additives based on the manufacturer's recommended dose. Body weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded weekly. Oocysts per gram of excreta (OPG) were determined on days 25 to 33 and 42. One bird per cage was euthanized to analyze lesion score and jejunum and ileum inflammatory genes expression. Coccidial challenge reduced WG (P <0.05) during 15 to 28 days and vaccine treatment was more effective in improving WG and FCR on days 29-42 and 1-42 (P <0.05) than other treatments. Birds in the PC group had higher (P <0.05) OPG than NC group for all days and the vaccine treatment resulted in the lowest rate of OPG compared to other treatments (P<0.05) at 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33 d of age and overall average. Relative mRNA levels of IFN-γ, IL-1β and IL-10 were significantly upregulated among treatments under coccidiosis challenge in jejunum and ileum except for IL-1β expression in the ileum. In conclusion, based on the results of this study the individual characteristics of feed additives for the prevention of coccidiosis can be different depending on the type and source of feed additives, duration, and amount used, levels of oocyst inoculation and Eimeriatypes.