Effects of Encapsulated Cinnamaldehyde and Citral on Performance and Cecal Microbiota of Broilers Vaccinated or not Vaccinated against Coccidiosis

This study investigated the effects of encapsulated cinnamaldehyde (CIN) and citral (CIT) alone or in combination (CIN + CIT) on the growth performance and cecal microbiota of nonvaccinated broilers and broilers vaccinated against coccidiosis. Vaccinated (1,600) and nonvaccinated (1,600) 0-day-old male Cobb500 broilers were randomly allocated to 5 treatments: basal diet (control) and basal diet supplemented with bacitracin (BAC, 55 ppm), CIN, CIT, and CIN + CIT at 100 ppm each. In general, body weight (BW) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly improved in birds treated with BAC, CIN, CIT, and CIN + CIT but were all decreased in vaccinated birds compared with nonvaccinated birds. Significant interactions between vaccination and treatments for average daily gain during the periods of starter (day 0–9) and BW on day 10 were noted. Broilers receiving vaccines or feed with BAC, CIN, CIT, or CIN + CIT showed significant reductions in mortality rate from day 0 to 28. The incidences of minor coccidiosis were higher in vaccinated birds than in nonvaccinated birds (P < 0.05). Diet with BAC or tested encapsulated essential oils showed comparable effects on the coccidiosis incidences. Similar to BAC, CIN and its combination with CIT reduced both incidence and severity of necrotic enteritis (P < 0.05). No treatment effects were observed on the cecal microbiota at the phyla level. At the genus level, Lactobacillus was more abundant in broilers fed with CIT, while Clostridium and Enterococcus were less abundant in broilers fed with CIN, CIT, or CIN + CIT in both the vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups. Results from this study suggested that addition of CIN alone or in combination with CIT in feed could improve chicken growth performance to the level comparable with BAC and alter cecal microbiota composition. 

Key words: broiler, ceca microbiota, coccidiosis, essential oils.

Published in the proceedings of the Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada 2020. For information on the event, past and future editions, check out https://animalnutritionconference.ca/.