Abstract
The study was conducted on broiler birds to evaluate the anticoccidial efficacy of an extract of Chinese traditional herb Dichroa febrifuga Lour. One hundred broiler birds were assigned to five equal groups. All birds in groups 1–4 were orally infected with 1.5 × 104 Eimeira tenella sporulated oocysts and birds in groups 1, 2 and 3 were medicated with 20, 40 mg extract/kg feed and 2 mg diclazuril/kg feed, respectively. The bloody diarrhea, oocyst counts, intestinal lesion scores, and the body weight were recorded to evaluate the anticoccidial efficacy. The results showed that D. febrifuga extract was effective against Eimeria infection; especially 20 mg D. febrifuga extract/kg feed can significantly increase body weight gains and reduce bloody diarrhea, lesion score, and oocyst excretion in comparison to infected-unmedicated control group.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Wens Research Fund and Jiaxing Bureau of Science and Technology, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China (grant no. 2007BY6007). The authors thank the team of Veterinary Parasites' Pathology and Biology Laboratory, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University.
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Zhang, DF., Sun, BB., Yue, YY. et al. Anticoccidial activity of traditional Chinese herbal Dichroa febrifuga Lour. extract against Eimeria tenella infection in chickens. Parasitol Res 111, 2229–2233 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3071-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3071-y