Eucalyptus leaves powder, antibiotic and probiotic addition to broiler diets: effect on growth performance, immune response, blood components and carcass traits

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of eucalyptus powder (EP), virginiamycin and probiotic on performance, immunity, blood components and carcass traits of broiler chickens. A total of 250, 1-day-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to five treatments with five replicates and 10 chicks each, as a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments consisted of: basal diet (BD), BD + 0.25% EP, BD + 0.5% EP, BD + 0.01% of diet probiotic (Protexin), BD + 0.02% of diet antibiotic (virginiamycin). Dietary supplementation did not affect feed intake, BW gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) during starter and grower phases, but BWG and FCR were affected during the finisher and whole periods (P < 0.05).The highest BWG and lowest FCR were obtained in birds fed with virginiamycin and 0.5% EP. Dietary supplementation significantly increased the relative weight of carcass and breast (P < 0.05). Treatments had no effect on relative weights of internal organs and small intestine except for bursa that increased by treatments. Relative length of jejunum also increased by treatments (P < 0.05). Antibody production against sheep red blood cells did not changed in primary titer (day 35), but it significantly increased in secondary titer (day 42) by 0.5% EP. White blood cell counts were increased and cholesterol decreased by dietary supplementation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study showed that 0.5% EP served as a useful replacement for antibiotic and would improve performance and immune response of broiler chickens.