Effects of Stiking Assa (Ferula assa foetida) powder on performance, immunity status and cecal microbial population of broiler chickens

This research was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding five levels of Ferula assa foetida powder (0، 0. 25، 0. 50، 0. 75 and 1 percent of diet) on performance، humoral and cellular immune status and cecal microbial population. A total of 200 one-day-old mixed sex Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 5 experimental groups with each four replicates and 10 birds in each replicate، using to a completely randomized design. Experimental periods were as 1-21 and 22-42 days of age. During 22-42 days of age، the highest body weight gain (BWG) was observed in birds fed diet containing 0. 75% Ferula assa foetida (FAF). At 1-21 days of age، adding FAF to the diet did not affect FCR (P>0. 05) but at 22-42 days of age the lowest FCR was observed in birds fed 0. 75% FAF compared to control group (P<0. 05). Birds fed FAF، had higher antibody titer against NDV، IB and cellular immunity 48h after challenging with 2،4-Dinitrochlorobenzene (P<0. 05). Birds fed 0. 75 percent FAF، had higher relative bursa of Fabricius weight compared to birds in control group (P<0. 05). Cecal lactobacilli population improved by using FAF in diet (P<0. 05). Result of this experiment showed that using 0. 75% FAF powder in diet of broilers could improve FCR، humoral and cellular immune responses as well as cecal lactobacilli population.