Comparative evaluation of herbal coccidiostat with chemotherapeutic coccidiostats on performance of broilers to control coccidiosis.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the comparative efficacy of recommended dose of selected anticoccidial drugs Salinomycin, Dinitolmide, while Cocciban at three dose levels on the performance of broilers. For this purpose, 420-day-old commercial male broiler chicks were randomly divided into 7 treatment groups with 10 replications of 6 birds each and reared in battery brooders up to 42 days of age. Groups were designated as uninfected unmedicated (T1), infected unmedicated (T2), Cocciban 500 g/ton and infected (T3), Cocciban 750 g/ton and infected (T4), Cocciban 1000 g/ton and infected (T5), Salinomycin 500 g/ton and infected (T6), and Dinitolmide and infected (T7). Groups T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, and T7 were experimentally infected at 21 days old by 50,000 oocysts of Eimeria species. The broilers were fed with starter (0-21 days) and finisher diets (22-42 days). The herbal product Cocciban 1000 g/ton alone had significantly (P < 0.05) higher body weight gain and feed efficiency than all other infected groups during the overall experimental period (0-42 days), but significantly lower than healthy control. All the groups did not show significant (P > 0.05) effect on mean feed intake, percent carcass yields and percent weights of liver, heart and gizzard. Similarly there was no significant (P < 0.05) influence of treatment groups on the organoleptic characteristics of meat. Treatment groups did not have any significant (P < 0.05) influence on humeral immune response to ND vaccine and cell-mediated immune response to PHA-P. Among all the infected groups, Cocciban 1000 g/ton group (78.33%) recorded more mean percent livability than all other infected groups.