Influence of dietary supplementation of Nigella sativa on experimental coccidiosis in broiler chickens
The traditional medicinal plant Nigella Sativa (NS) has given greatly offered for its significant antiprotozoal effects in current years. In this work, the anti-coccidial property of NS seed or salinomycin (Bio-Cox) was used for controlling field-strain of Eimeria (E) in broilers. A total of 120 broiler chicks were assigned to four equal groups. First group (G1) was fed with a regular diet, anti-coccidial-free with 1% whole crushed NS seeds from day 1 to day 38. The second group (G2) was fed with a regular diet with salinomycin 60 g/ton for the same period of G1. The third group (G3) and the fourth group (G4) were fed with a regular diet only. The G1, G2 and G3 were infected with E. tenella and G4 remain as a control. The results revealed that there were significant decreased were found in the body weight (BW), body weight gain (BWG), total red blood cells (RBCs), haemoglobin (Hb) level and packed cell volume (PCV) in the G3, On the other hand serum biochemical analysis of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was significantly increased in G3 in compared with other groups. Likewise, the G1 showed significantly fewer cecal lesions and oocysts shedding (P<0.05) than the G3 after infection. In summary, our work recommends that NS could be used as unusual remedy for altering E. tenella.