Feed supplementation with some natural products on Salmonella infected broilers’ performance and intestinal injury during the starter period

Abstract

Many alternatives are under investigation since 2006 when the European Union banned the use of antimicrobials in animal feed. The objective of this study was to find the effect of different feed additives in comparison with antibiotic on the performance and gut health in broiler infected with Salmonella during the starter phase. A total of 240 one day old male Ross 308 chickens were divided into six groups as follow: control treatment (negative control), orally challenged with Salmonella enterica subsp. Typhimurium (positive control), T1: oral challenge + 0.1 g/kg antibiotic, T2: oral challenge + 0.15 g/kg Sanguinarine, T3: oral challenge + 1 g/kg oregano powder, T4: oral challenge + calcium montmorillonite. On day second of the experiment, challenge was performed at a dose rate of 1.0 mL of the inoculum (4.5 × 108 CFU/mL). Data were statistically analysed with the help of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures using least significant difference (LSD) as post-hoc test. Feed consumption was significantly (p .05) between the control and experimental groups. Significantly (p