Effect of Level and Type of Mushroom on Performance, Blood Parameters and Natural Coccidiosis Infection in Floor-Reared Broilers

摘要

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the feeding of four medicinal mushrooms via fungus myceliatedgrain (FMG) at three levels on production performance, blood parameters and natural coccidiosis oocyst excretion in floorreared broiler chickens. Three hundred day-old female broiler chickens were weighed and randomly assigned to ninedifferent treatment groups. Each group was replicated three times with 10 birds per replicate pen. The four mushroomsutilized were Shiitake (Lentinus edodes), Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) and Cordyceps(Cordycepss inensis). Each mushroom was supplemented at a 5 and 10% inclusion level into a basal meal ration, andcompared to a control ration containing no mushrooms. Body weights were assessed on days 28 and 49. Bursa weights,Eimeria oocyst counts, blood differential percentages and mortality rates were measured at 49 days of age. Eimeria oocystcounts, blood differential percentages and both bursa and body weights differed significantly (P ≤ 0.05) between treatmentgroups. Treatment 8 (Oyster 5%) produced the highest average body weight at 3.21 kg, while treatment 5 (Cordyceps10%) produced the lowest at 2.33 kg. A higher oocyst count and increased heterophil percentage was observed intreatment 6 (Reishi 5%). There were some basic trends in the patterns of heterophil and lymphocyte percentage elevationin treatment 3 (Shiitake 10%). The results from this experiment demonstrate the ability of certain mushrooms to influencebody weight of broiler chickens and show some immune enhancement via the bursa of Fabricius.