The Impact of Some Natural Alternatives to Antibiotics as Phytobiotic and Nucleotide Supplementation on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, Immune Status and Histopathological Changes in Broiler Chickens Challenged with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Gaber, Ahmed F.; Awaad, M. H. H.; Zouelfekar, Sahar; Mahmoud, Heba Badr; Abdelmagid, Marwa; Khalifa, Ahmed Shawky; Morsy, Eman A.

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2025.331672.2466

The Impact of Some Natural Alternatives to Antibiotics as Phytobiotic and Nucleotide Supplementation on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, Immune Status and Histopathological Changes in Broiler Chickens Challenged with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ The Reference laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control of Poultry Production (RLQP), Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12618, Egypt.

² Poultry Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza 12211, Egypt

³ The Reference laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control of Poultry Production (RLQP), Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12618, Egypt

10.21608/ejvs.2025.331672.2466

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Ps. aeruginosa) is one of the main causes of septicemia in broiler chickens, which results in significant losses for the global poultry production industry. The purpose of the current study was to clarify the effects of rationary supplements containing natural feed additives (nucleotides and phytobiotics) on the management of experimentally infected Ps. aeruginosa in broiler chickens. The broiler chicks were divided into four groups with five replicates each. The birds in groups 1 and 2 were designated as the positive control (PC) and negative control (NC) groups, respectively, while chickens in groups 3 and 4 were defined as T1 and T2, were fed a feed supplemented with phytobiotic and nucleotides, respectively. On day 3 of life, PC, T1, and T2 groups were experimentally injected with Ps. aeruginosa subcutaneously using 0.2 ml of PBS containing 10^6 CFU per bird. The results showed that phytobiotic (1, 0.5, 0.5kg /MT for the starter, grower and finisher rations) respectively, and nucleotides (300 g/MT) supplemented groups had better growth rates, feed efficiency, and European Production Efficiency Factor compared to the PC group. Ps. aeruginosa infected and supplemented groups showed lower mortality rates than PC groups. Additionally, the feed additives positively influenced immune organ development, antibody responses, and delayed-type hypersensitivity. Both feed additives reduced the severity of intestinal lesions. Supplemented groups exhibited better carcass yields, breast muscle weight, and intestinal development. Overall, the study demonstrates the potential of phytobiotic feed ingredients and hydrolyzed yeast nucleotides as promising alternatives to antibiotics in poultry production.

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