Comparison of dietary immune stimulant herbal compound and a commercial probiotic on blood biochemical parameters, immune response and intestinal bacterial counts of broiler chickens

This study deals with comparison between the efficacy of an immune stimulant herbal compound and a commercial probiotic containing lactobacilli on performance, blood biochemical parameters, Immune response and intestinal bacterial counts in broilers. Two hundred and twenty five unsexed Ross 308 were randomly allotted to 3 groups of 5 replicate and 15 chicks in each replicate and fed with following treatments: 1) Basal diet (no herbal compound and probiotic), 2) Basal diet + 0.025% commercial probiotic and 3) Basal diet + 0.1% of an immune stimulant herbal compound () for 42 days. Results showed that addition of herbal compound decreased feed consumption of broilers compared with control group numericaly and decreased the cholesterol and liver enzymes significantly (P<0.05) compared with probiotic treatment. Antibody titers values get improved by incorporation of herbal compound when compared with other treatments. Total number of salmonella and coliforms were lower in probiotic group, while in herbal compound treatment, salmonella counts was (P<0.05) higher and E.coli counts was lower than other two groups, significantly (P<0.05).