Manjunatha Vishal, Nixon Julian E, Mathis Greg F, Lumpkins Brett S, Güzel-Seydim Zeynep B, Seydim Atif C, Greene Annel K, Jiang Xiuping
Department of Food, Nutrition and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631, USA.
Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Jul 15;14(14):2074. doi: 10.3390/ani14142074.
Coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis (NE) are prevalent poultry ailments worldwide, leading to decreased live performance and elevated mortality rates without antibiotic usage. This study evaluated (black cumin) seeds (BCS) and kefir as alternatives to antibiotics for broilers. An in vivo study over a 28-day period, using 384 Cobb 500 male broilers organized into six treatment groups as part of a completely randomized block experimental design was conducted. Each treatment group included eight replicates, with each replicate containing eight birds. The treatments included positive control, negative control, antibiotic control, 5% BCS in feed, 20% kefir in drinking water, and a combination of 5% BCS and 20% kefir. NE was induced in broilers by administering ~5000 oocysts of orally on day 14, followed by inoculation with about 10 CFU/mL of (Cp) (strain Cp#4) on days 19, 20, and 21. Live performance metrics including feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion were assessed in broilers. Additionally, NE disease outcomes such as lesion scores, mortality rates, and Cp populations in cecum were determined during the study. The BCS, kefir, and the combination had no detrimental effect on broiler live performance. BCS-treated and combination groups had lower NE scores ( > 0.05) in comparison to the positive control and exhibited no significant difference ( > 0.05) from antibiotic control. Additionally, treatment groups and antibiotic control were not significantly different ( > 0.05) in mortality, whereas the BCS and kefir combination significantly reduced ( < 0.05) mortality to 14.1% compared to 31.3% for the positive control. vegetative cells significantly decreased ( < 0.05) in treatments with BCS, kefir, and their combination on days 22 and 28 compared to the positive control. On day 22, Cp sores were significantly lower ( < 0.05) for the kefir and combination treatments compared to the positive control. In conclusion, BCS and kefir successfully reduced infection and mortality without any detrimental impact on broiler live performance with the combined treatment being the most effective. These results suggest that BCS and kefir could serve as potential alternatives to antibiotics in managing NE.
球虫病和坏死性肠炎（NE）是全球范围内普遍存在的家禽疾病，在不使用抗生素的情况下会导致生长性能下降和死亡率升高。本研究评估了黑种草籽（BCS）和开菲尔酸奶作为肉鸡抗生素替代品的效果。进行了一项为期28天的体内研究，将384只科宝500雄性肉鸡分为六个处理组，作为完全随机区组实验设计的一部分。每个处理组包括八个重复，每个重复包含八只鸡。处理包括阳性对照、阴性对照、抗生素对照、饲料中添加5% BCS、饮水中添加20%开菲尔酸奶，以及5% BCS和20%开菲尔酸奶的组合。在第14天给肉鸡口服约5000个 卵囊以诱导NE，随后在第19、20和21天接种约10 CFU/mL的 （Cp）（菌株Cp#4）。评估了肉鸡的生长性能指标，包括采食量、体重增加和饲料转化率。此外，在研究期间还测定了NE疾病的结果，如病变评分、死亡率和盲肠中的Cp菌数量。BCS、开菲尔酸奶及其组合对肉鸡的生长性能没有不利影响。与阳性对照相比，BCS处理组和组合组的NE评分较低（P>0.05），与抗生素对照组无显著差异（P>0.05）。此外，处理组和抗生素对照组在死亡率方面无显著差异（P>0.05），而BCS和开菲尔酸奶的组合显著降低（P<0.05）死亡率至14.1%，而阳性对照为31.3%。与阳性对照相比，在第22天和第28天，BCS、开菲尔酸奶及其组合处理组中的 营养细胞显著减少（P<0.05）。在第22天，与阳性对照相比，开菲尔酸奶和组合处理组的Cp溃疡显著更低（P<0.05）。总之，BCS和开菲尔酸奶成功降低了 感染和死亡率，且对肉鸡的生长性能没有任何不利影响，联合处理最为有效。这些结果表明，BCS和开菲尔酸奶可作为管理NE时抗生素的潜在替代品。
