Dietary inclusion of arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides in response to broilers challenged with subclinical necrotic enteritis

1. This study investigated the prebiotic properties of arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides (AXOS) produced both in situ and in vitro for their activity against the onset of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.

2. A 2 × 3 factorial arrangement was applied, including necrotic enteritis challenge (challenged/unchallenged) and three dietary treatments from d 10 to 21. A wheat–soy commercial-type basal-grower diet was fed with 2% of the wheat proportion replaced by the same amount of either arabinoxylan (AX), AXOS produced from hydrolysing AX with 16 000 BXU (birch xylanase unit) xylanase in vitro or AX fed with 16 000 BXU xylanase (AX + E). Necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge was induced by orally infecting birds with a vaccine strain of Eimeria oocysts at d 9 of age followed by oral gavage of a freshly prepared Clostridium perfringens broth at d 14.

3. The challenge depressed growth performance, induced gross lesions and reduced ileal viscosity at d 10–21. Birds fed on the AXOS diet had numerically less severe gross lesions, improved feed conversion at d 0–16 and lower ileal viscosity at d 16 compared to birds fed on AX. Weight gain of the unchallenged birds ranked as follows in terms of the diets: AXOS > AX + E > AX. AX + E produced a lower ileal viscosity compared to the AX treatment but only led to marginal improvements in performance and intestinal lesion scores.

4. Caecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration was higher in birds fed on AXOS and AX + E compared to those fed on AX and was higher in the challenged birds compared to the unchallenged birds. Gizzard pH was lower in birds fed on AX + E compared to those fed on AXOS at d 16. Challenged birds had lower ileum pH compared to the unchallenged birds at d 16 and 21.

5. Results of this study suggest that AXOS appeared to be efficacious prebiotics, as highlighted by improvements in feed conversion ratio and increased SCFA production. Future studies are warranted to elucidate the types of AXOS that are most active against NE and the mechanisms by which different levels of AXOS enhance bird performance.     

Potential of a mixture of eugenol and garlic tincture to improve performance and intestinal health in broilers under necrotic enteritis challenge

Plant extracts(PE)are gaining increased attention as potential alternatives to in-feed antimicrobials(AM)due to their known antimicrobial activities.This study was conducted to examine the potential of PE,a microencapsulated product composed of eugenol and garlic tincture as an alternative to AM-agent on performance and intestinal health in broilers under necrotic enteritis(NE)challenge.A total of 960 dayold mixed-sex Cobb 500 chicks were randomly distributed to 48-floor pens with 6 treatments replicated 8 times with 20 birds each.The 6 treatments were as follows:UC,unchallenged control;CC,challenged control;PE,challenged group plus PE;AM,challenged group plus AM;FAP,challenged group plus a full dose of AM with PE;HAP,challenged group plus a half dose of AM with PE in starter,grower and finisher phases.Birds in the challenged groups were inoculated with Eimeria spp.on d 9 and Clostridium perfringens on d 14.The body weight gain(BWG),feed intake(FI),feed conversion ratio(FCR),and livability of birds were compromised,and intestinal lesions and mortality were increased(P<0.05)by NE challenge,illustrating a successful clinical NE challenge.Birds fed AM had higher BWG and FI,and lower FCR,mortality,and intestinal lesions compared to the CC group(P<0.05).Birds fed PE had improved FCR(P<0.05)and livability(5.8%)in an overall period compared to the CC group.On d 16,PE supplementation reduced ileal lesion scores in only male birds(P<0.05).Birds fed PE had decreased Eimeria maxima and Eimeria acervulina oocyst counts in caecal content(P<0.05).Birds fed PE had decreased Eimeria brunetti and total oocyst counts in caecal content,and E.acervulina oocyst counts in ileal content in only female birds(P<0.05).On d 35,PE supplementation reduced variation of BW in both male and female birds and increased yellowness(b*value,14.4%)in the thigh.These findings suggest the potential of PE supplementation in diets to improve the performance and intestinal health of birds under clinical NE as indicated by improved FCR,livability,uniformity,reduced ileal lesions,oocyst counts and increased skin yellowness.However,the protective effect of PE may not be apparent in the presence of AM in the feed.