THE EFFICACY OF A COMMERCIAL HERBAL FORMULATION IN THE PREVENTION OF COCCIDIOSIS UNDER NATURAL EXPOSURE TO Eimeria SPECIES

Abstract

This study was under taken to determine the Efficacy of a Commercial Herbal Formulation in the Prevention of Coccidiosis under Natural Exposure to Eimeria Species in Animal Production Teaching and Research Farm during the period of March to May 2020. A total of 180 day old broiler chicks were randomly divided in to three treatments, in a completely randomized design with 3 replicates containing 20 birds each. The groups were designated T1, T2, and T3 respectively. Treatment one was administered Ruchamax at the rate of 15g in water, treatment two was given amprolium at 100g and treatment three was served as control. Data collected on weight gain, carcass characteristics, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, nutrient digestibility and hematological parameters were subjected to analysis of variance using SPSS statistical software. The results showed that the carcass characteristics, the nutrient retention and weight gain were not significantly (p>0.05) different. Significant (p<0.05) differences were observed in hematological indices between the treatment groups. The serum parameters between the treatments were not significantly different. The results of the feacal samples showed that Ruchamax was effective against coccidiosis due to the reduction in the level of infection along the weeks. It was concluded that the weekly coccidiosis result shows the safety and efficacy of Ruchamax as an anticoccidial agent. The findings of the present study showed that 15g of Ruchamax produced comparable result to amprolium in control, treatment and prevention of coccidiosis in broiler chickens.