Assessment of plant extracts on immune response, productive performance and intestinal morphometry of broilers challenged with Eimeria sp.

SUMMARY This study evaluated the effect of using plant extracts on immune response, productive performance, and intestinal morphometry of broilers challenged with coccidiosis vaccine. It was used 720 male Ross broiler chicks, distributed into a completely randomized design with four treatments and nine repetitions of 20 birds each. From the 14th day, animals received the following treatments: A - Basal diet + antibiotic growth promoter (AGP); B - Basal diet + AGP + vaccine challenge; C - Basal diet + plant extract and D - Basal diet + plant extract + vaccine challenge. Broilers of treatments B and D received oral coccidiosis vaccine (twenty times the label-recommended individual commercial dose). Adding plant extract to the diet of birds challenged with Eimeria sp increased (p 0.05) by the immune challenge or addition of the plant extract. The challenge with oocysts of Eimeria sp or associated with the plant extract resulted in a smaller (p