Efficacy of In Ovo Delivered Prebiotics on Growth Performance Meat Quality and Gut Health of Kuroiler Chickens in the Face of a Natural Coccidiosis Challenge

摘要

The management of coccidiosis in poultry farms is mainly dependent on the use of anticoccidial drugs. Development of resistance to existing anticoccidial drugs coupled with restrictive use of antibiotics to control secondary bacterial infections following the ban on antibiotics, stresses the urgent need to explore alternative strategies for maintaining intestinal functionality in chickens for improved productivity. Prebiotics have been proposed as a solution to the intestinal problems of poultry. This study demonstrates that in ovo delivered prebiotics with or without antibiotics reduces severity of intestinal lesions and oocyst excretion induced by natural infection with . Prebiotics protected Kuroiler chickens from coccidia in particular in the first 56 days of age and tended to have a synergistic effect with anticoccidial drug in the management of the disease post-infection in the field, with positive effects on performance and meat quality.