Effect of adding different levels of echinacea purpurea extract on the productive performance of broiler chickens

Abstract EN

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Echinacea purpurea extract (EPE) on performance and health status of broilers from 1 to 42 d of age A total number of 180, one day-old broiler chicks(IR), were randomly divided into 4 equal treatments with 3 replicates of each (15 birds / replicate).

Birds were allocated to the 4 Treatment: T1 (control positive), T2 (control negative), T3 (basal diet + Echinacea 0.5 ml/l) and T4 (basal diet + Echinacea 1.0 ml/l).

Production indices were evaluated weekly at different periods of experiment.

At the end of experiment (42 d), 10 birds per treatment were processed to determine the detailed of performance index carcass characteristics.

.

Also, blood samples were taken from each treatment alone to evaluate the health status and immune response.

The results indicated that broilers treated with Echinacea purpurea Extract (1.0) m/L had the best performance (P≤0.05) in comparison with other groups.

However, abdominal fat weight percentage recorded lower values for birds treated by EPE (1.0).

In this context, lymphoid organs and immune response were better for broilers had treated by EPE (1.0) than other groups.

It can be concluded that the supplementation EPE (1.0) schedule was more beneficial without any negative effect on growth performance or physiological status