Author(s):

Sakthi Priya M, TR Gopala Krishna Murthy and T Vijayanand

Abstract: The present study was undertaken to optimize the level of feeding of the herbal preparation (Ocimum sanctum, Zingiber officinale, Allium sativum, Trigonella foenum graceum and Curcuma longa) in different doses @ 0.1percent, 0.25 percent and 0.5 percent in layer feed to reduce the faecal total bacterial count, faecal coliform count and screening for the presence of E. coli. The study was conducted in eleven weeks old Lohman breed growers at 11 weeks of age with 20 birds per group. Control group was fed only with the regular feed without any herbal preparation and the treatment groups I, II and III were fed with the herbal preparation in different levels as mentioned above in the regular feed. The experimental trial was conducted for twenty one days and the data were collected from a sample of six birds from each group. There was a significant reduction (p<0.01) in faecal total bacterial count and faecal coliform count in all the groups with the highest reduction nearing to one log in the group III when compared to the control. There was presence of E. coli in the contol and absence in the treatment groups. Thus, 0.5 percent level of the herbal preparation in the feed can be claimed as the optimum level of feeding in the layer chickens to combat enteric infections. However, further study is required to make concrete recommendation for commercial layer chicken productivity.

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