Abstract
Background: Phytogenic additives would be helpful to mitigate the detrimental impact
of Campylobacter jejuni on broiler chickens.
Objective: The experiment aimed to assess the effects of cinnamon, rosemary and
oregano powder on physiological responses of broiler chickens challenged with C. jejuni
from 0 to 42 days of age.
Methods: A total of 192 one-day-old male broiler chickens were divided into 6
treatment groups. The treatments included: negative control (NC; basal diet without
additives and no C. jejuni challenge), positive control (PC; basal diet with C. jejuni challenge), PC with cinnamon, rosemary or oregano powder (3 g/kg each), and PC with
Erythromycin (55 mg/kg). Except for the NC group, all chicks were orally challenged
with 2 × 108 CFU/mL C. jejuni daily from days 21–25. Feed intake, body weight gain
(BWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), energy efficiency ratio (EER) and protein efficiency
ratio (PER) were assessed during the rearing period (0–42 days). On day 42 of age,
fresh excreta samples were collected from each pen to determine apparent dry matter digestibility and excreta microbiota. In addition, at the end of the experiment, blood
samples were collected to evaluate blood profile and liver enzyme activities.
Results: C. jejuni challenge (PC treatment) decreased BWG, EER and PER, while
increasing FCR of broiler chickens (p < 0.05), whereas rosemary, oregano and Erythromycin improved these performance parameters akin to NC. PC diet showed
negative effect in ileal morphology, alleviated by additives except cinnamon (p < 0.05).
Dietary additives successfully reduced Campylobacter levels and increased Lactobacilli counts in the PC. Rosemary and oregano lowered plasma total cholesterol
(p < 0.05). Alanine aminotransferase elevation by C. jejuni challenge in the PC group
was prevented by rosemary, oregano and Erythromycin (p < 0.05).