Field trial of medicinal plant, Bidens pilosa, against eimeriosis in broilers.

ABSTRACT: Eimeriosis is a severe protozoan disease in poultry. Because of increasing concern about drug residue and drug resistance with the use of anticoccidial drugs, natural products are emerging as an alternative and complementary approach to control avian eimeriosis. Our previous publication showed that feed supplemented with B. pilosa (BP) was effective at combating chicken eimeriosis in experimental settings. However, its efficacy against chicken eimeriosis under field conditions is not known. Here, we investigated the efficacy of BP against eimeriosis on an organic chicken farm. We found that feed supplemented with BP, at the dose of 0.025% of feed or more, significantly reduced Eimeria infection. This treatment increased body weight gain and reduced feed conversion ratio, leading to superio

SUBMITTER: Chang CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4838822 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature