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Title: The effects of dried leaves of Manihot esculenta and Artemisia annua on coccidiosis in organically reared pullets in Brazil

Author
item DE ALMEIDA, GUSTAVO - Aarhus University
item THAMSBORG, STIG - Danish Center For Experimental Parisitology
item HORSTED, KLAUS - Aarhus University
item MAGALHAES, PEDRO - Universidade De Campinas (UNICAMP)
item Ferreira, Jorge
item HERMANSEN, JOHN - Aarhus University

Submitted to: EAAP International Symposium on Energy and Protein Metabolism and Nutrition
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2016
Publication Date: 9/12/2016
Citation: De Almeida, G.F., Thamsborg, S.M., Horsted, K., Magalhaes, P., Ferreira, J.F., Hermansen, J.E. 2016. The effects of dried leaves of Manihot esculenta and Artemisia annua on coccidiosis in organically reared pullets in Brazil. In: 5th EAAP International Symposium on Energy and Protein Metabolism and Nutrition, September 12-15, 2016, Karakow, Poland. EAAP Publication No. 137, p. 335-336.

Interpretive Summary: Coccidiosis in chickens lead to economic losses, delays in product delivery, and makes young chickens susceptible to other diseases, some of which can affect humans who consume these chickens and their products. Despite market demand for organic coccidiostats, there is no natural product to control the coccidia parasites in poultry. A range of plant products were investigated as potential deterrents of coccidiosis in young chickens. Young chicks (n=2,300) were randomly allocated to 7 treatments with two replicates. The response of the treatments was compared to a vaccinated group (Vac) and to a farmer’s routine treatment, which was the supplementation of an ethanolic extract of mugwort via drinking water after appearance of clinical symptoms (EAv2). Weight gain, feed intake and the protozoan coccidia eggs excretion (EE) were monitored weekly from 1 to 14 weeks of age. The food supplementation of annual wormwood at 3% reduced the growth rates of young chicks without affecting EE. Cassava supplementation significantly suppressed EE by 60-70% at the stage of early infection. In conclusion, while the effects of ethanolic plant extracts were limited, a daily 3% supplementation of cassava in the beginning of the rearing period may be an effective strategy to control coccidiosis in chicken. Further investigation focusing on specific species of coccidia, mixing bioactive compounds, time, and testing different periods and routes of supplementation are warranted. This research is of interest to poultry farmers because the discovery of a natural treatment for coccidia that can be delivered with feed or drinking water would result in a safer product for consumers and increase organic farmers profits, leading to an immediate boost in the organic poultry market.

Technical Abstract: The effects of Manihot esculenta and Artemisia annua as natural coccidiostats were investigated as compared to a vaccinated group. The inclusion of Artemisia annua showed poorer performance compared to the vaccinated group whereas dried leaves of M. esculenta presented similar results of a commercial vaccine in performance and smaller oocyst shedding at 21 days of age. Manihot Esculenta might be an option as natural coccidiostat for organic and slow input poultry systems and deserves further investigation.