Aim: An experiment was conducted on day old 168 broiler chicks to study the effect of 0.4% as well as 0.2% Calotropis procera (madar) leaf powder and 0.0125% amprolium supplementation on parasitological parameters of broilers during mixed Eimeria species infection.

Materials and Methods: Chicks were randomly divided into seven groups (I-VII) each with two replicates of 12 chicks. On 15th day of experiment, broilers of Group II, IV, VI, and VII were infected with 50,000 sporulated oocysts of mixed Eimeria species. To evaluate the anticoccidial effect of different feed supplements percent fecal score, percent survival, percent weight gain, performance index (PI), average oocyst production, and percent reduction in oocyst production were calculated.

Results: It was observed that amprolium supplementation had maximum anticoccidial effect as it gave the best efficacy in terms of all parameters, whereas supplementation of 0.4% madar leaf powder showed nonsignificant difference with amprolium for some parameters such as percent survival, percent weight gain, and PI.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that madar (C. procera) leaf powder and amprolium had comparable activity against coccidiosis. Hence, madar leaf powder may be used for the prevention and control of mixed Eimeria spp. infection prevalent in field conditions.

Keywords: amprolium, Calotropis procera, coccidiosis, parasitological parameters.

1. Allen, P.C. and Fetterer, R.H. (2002) Recent advances in biology and immune biology of Eimeria species and in diagnosis and control of infection with these coccidian parasites of poultry. Clin. Microbiol. Rev., 15: 58-65. [Crossref] [PubMed] [PMC]

2. Novaes, J., Thibirio, L., Rangel, L.D., Ferro, M., Abe, R.Y., Manha, A.P.S., De Mello, J.C.M., Varuzza, L., Durham, A.M., Madeira, A.M.B.N. and Grub, A. (2012) A comparative transcriptome analysis reveals expression profiles conserved across three Eimeria spp. of domestic fowl and associated with multiple developmental stages. Int. J. Parasitol., 42: 39-48. [Crossref]

3. McDougald, L.R. and Seibert, B.P. (1998) Residual activity of anticoccidial drugs in chickens after withdrawal of medicated feeds. Vet. Parasitol., 74: 91-93. [Crossref]

4. Kayser, O., Kiderlen, A.F. and Croft, S.L. (2003) Natural products as antiphrastic drugs. Parasitol. Res., 90: 55-62. [Crossref] [PubMed]

5. Abbas, R.Z., Colwell, D.D. and Gilleard, J. (2012) Botanicals: An alternative approach for the control of avian coccidiosis. World Poult. Sci. J., 68: 203-215. [Crossref]

6. Kumar, P.S., Suresh, E. and Kalavathy, S. (2013) Review on a potential herb Calotropis gigantea (L.) R. Br. Sch. Acad. J. Pharm., 2(2): 135-143.

7. Holdswort, P.A., Conway, D.P., McKenzie, M.E., Dayton, A.D., Chapman, H.D., Mathis, G.F., Skinner, J.T., Mundt, H.C. and Williams, R.B. (2004) World association for the advancement of veterinary parasitology (WAAVP) guidelines for evaluating the efficacy of anticoccidial drugs in chickens and turkeys. Vet. Parasitol., 121: 189-212. [Crossref]

8. Davies, S.F.M., Joyner, L.P. and Kendall, S.B. (1963) Coccidiosis. 1st ed. Oliver and Boyd Ltd., Edinburg. p221.

9. Levine, N.D. (1985) Veterinary Protozoology. Iowa State University Press, Ethopia. p414.

10. Morehouse, N.F. and Baron, R.R. (1970) Coccidiosis: Evaluation of coccidiostats by mortality, weight gains and faecal scores. Exp. Parasitol., 28: 25-29. [Crossref]

11. Snedecor, G.W. and Cochran, W.G. (1994) Statistical Methods. 8th ed. Iowa University Press, Iowa, U.S.A.

12. Tipu, M.A., Pasha, T.N. and Ali, Z. (2002) Comparative efficacy of salinomycin sodium and neem fruit (Azadirachta Indica) as feed additive anticoccidials in broilers. Int. J. Poult. Sci., 1(4): 91-93. [Crossref]

13. Biu, A.A., Yusuff, S.D. and Rabo, J.S. (2006) Use of neem (Azadrichata indica) aqueous extract as a treatment for poultry coccidiosis in Borno State, Nigeria. Afr. Sci., 7(3): 147-151.

14. Hady, M.M. and Zaki, M.M. (2012) Efficacy of some herbal feed additives on performance and control of cecal coccidiosis in broilers. APCBEE Procedia, 4: 163-168. [Crossref]

15. Allen, P.C., Danforth, H.D. and Augustine, P.C. (1998) Dietary modulation of avian coccidiosis. Int. J. Parasitol., 28: 1121-1140. [Crossref]

16. Wang, Y., Mcallister, T.A., Newbold, C.J., Rode, L.M., Cheeke, P.R. and Cheng, K.J. (1998) Effects of Yucca schidigera extract on fermentation and degradation of steroidal saponins in the rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC). Anim. Feed Sci Technol., 74: 143-153. [Crossref]

17. Abbas, R.Z., Iqbal, Z., Khan, M.N., Zafar, M.A. and Zia, M.A. (2010) Anticoccidial activity of Curcuma longa L. In broiler chickens. Braz. Arch. Biol. Technol., 53: 63-67. [Crossref]

18. Singh, V.S., Palod, J., Vatsya, S., Kumar, R.R. and Shukla, S.K. (2013a) Effect of sprouted mung (Vigna radiata) supplementation on performance of broilers during mixed Eimeria species infection. Vet. Res. Int., 1(2): 41-45.

19. Zaman, M.A., Iqbal, Z., Abbas, R.Z. and Khan, M.N. (2011) Anti-coccidial activity of herbal complex in broiler chickens challenged with Eimeria tenella. Parasitology, 139(2): 237-243. [Crossref] [PubMed]

20. Mahmoud, O.M., Haroun, E.M., Sobaih, M.A., Omer, O.H. and Adam, S.E.I. (2001) Comparative efficacy of Calotropis procera latex and sulfadimidine against experimentally-induced Eimeria ovinoidalis infection in Najdi lambs. Small Rum. Res., 42(2): 135-140. [Crossref]

21. Singh, V.S., Palod, J., Shukla, S.K. and Shukla, P.K. (2008) Influence of a herbal anticoccidial on growth, parasitological, haematological parameters and carcass traits of the broilers experimentally infected with mixed field isolates of Eimeria species. Indian J. Anim. Sci., 78(10): 1057-1062.

22. Singh, V.S., Palod, J., Vatsya, S. and Shukla, S.K. (2013b) Effect of herbal vitamin E-selenium with organic chromium on growth, hematological and parasitological parameters of broilers chicken during mixed Eimeria infection. Vet. Res. Int., 1(1): 25-30.

23. Muthamilselvan, T., Kuo, T., Wu, Y. and Yang, W. (2016) Herbal remedies for coccidiosis control: A review of plants, compounds, and anticoccidial actions. Evid Based Complement Altern. Med., 2016: 1-19.

24. Habibi, H., Firouzi, S., Nili, H., Razavi, M., Asadi, S.L. and Daneshi, S. (2016) Anticoccidial effects of herbal extracts on Eimeria tenella infection in broiler chickens: In vitro and in vivo study. J. Parasit. Dis., 40(2): 401-407. [Crossref] [PubMed] [PMC]

25. Bozkurt, M., Giannenas, I., Kucukyilmaz, K., Christaki, E. and Florou-Paneri, P. (2013) An update on approaches to controlling coccidia in poultry using botanical extracts. Br. Poult. Sci., 54(6): 713-727. [Crossref] [PubMed]

26. Chitme, H.R., Chandra, R. and Kaushik, S. (2004) Studies on anti-diarrhoeal activity of Calotropis gigantea R.Br. In experimental animals. J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci., 7: 70-75. [PubMed]

27. Kshirsagar, A., Patil, P.A., Ashok, P. and Hulkoti, B. (2008) Anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer effects of Calotropis gigantean R.Br flowers in rhodents. J. Nat. Rem., 8(2): 183-190.

28. El-Khtam, A.O., Latif, A.A.E. and El-Hewaity, M.H. (2014) Efficacy of turmeric (Curcuma longa) and garlic (Allium sativum) on Eimeria species in broilers. Int. J. Basic Appl. Sci., 3(3): 349-356.

29. Nghonjuyi, N.W. (2015) Efficacy of ethanolic extract of Carica papaya leaves as a substitute of sulphanomide for the control of coccidiosis in KABIR chickens in Cameroon. J. Anim. Health. Prod., 3(1): 21-27. [Crossref]

30. Alnassan, A.A., Thabet, A., Daugschies, A. and Bangoura, B. (2015) In vitro efficacy of allicin on chicken Eimeria tenella sporozoites. Parasitol. Res., 114(10): 3913-3915. [Crossref] [PubMed]

31. Molan, L. and Faraj, A.M. (2015) Effect of selenium-rich green tea extract on the course of sporulation of Eimeria oocysts. J. Dent. Med. Sci., 14(4): 68-74.