Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2025, 70(2):55-63 | DOI: 10.17221/188/2024-CJAS

Broilers responses to dietary wormwood administration under Eimeria-challenged conditionsOriginal Paper

David Zapletal ORCID...¹, Radka Dobšíková¹, Martina Kosťuková¹, Vlastimil Šimek¹, Helena Stříbrná², Břetislav Koudela²

¹ Department of Animal Breeding, Animal Nutrition and Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic

² Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czech Republic

Some herbs can be used as phytogenic additives as they naturally contain specific bioactive phytochemicals that are effective in controlling coccidiosis and some other poultry diseases due to their immunostimulatory effects and they can be also nutritious. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Artemisia absinthium (WW) meal inclusion to a diet on the production performance, oocyst output and minerals content of meat in broilers infested by Eimeria oocysts. Ross 308 broilers were randomly assigned to four dietary groups. Broilers in the control group were fed basal diets without coccidiostat or WW. Broilers of the R group were fed starter and grower diets supplemented with coccidiostat robenidine. Broilers in the W3 and W6 groups were fed diets containing 3 and 6% of WW in feed, resp. At the age of 16 days, all broilers were infested by oocysts of Eimeria spp. to induce a mild coccidiosis infection. The WW meal had no effect on the production performance and carcass traits of broilers (P > 0.05). However, the used levels of administered WW meal were not effective in reducing the number of oocysts faecal output in infested broilers. Administration of coccidiostat robenidine prevented the development of Eimeria oocysts in the intestine as long as 4 days after the cessation of feeding the medicated diet to broilers (P < 0.05). As for minerals of breast meat, broilers of the W3 group displayed a higher Ca level compared to those in the R group (P < 0.05). On the contrary, the R group showed the highest Cu level compared to all other dietary groups assessed (P < 0.01). It can be concluded that for the coccidiosis control in poultry production, it is advisable to monitor the content of specific bioactive substances with proven anticoccidial activity when using WW products.

Keywords: Artemisia absinthium; coccidiosis; chicken; minerals of meat; oocyst output; production

Received: November 12, 2024; Accepted: January 28, 2025; Published: February 26, 2025  Show citation