Abstract
Summary This research was carried out to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of a mixture of propolis and phytogenic (Digestarom)on immune responses against Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease , also Heterophil/lymphocyte ratios in vaccinated broiler under thermoneutral (maintained on usual heat program)and heat stress maintained in )33 ± 2°C). total of three hundred, one-day-old broilers (Rose 308) chicks were distributed equally in two separated room, thermoneutral groups and heat stress HS groups along the duration of the experiment (42)day, then each group subdivided in to five groups( 30 chicks for each ) as follow: (thermoneutral group and heat stress group )fed a basal diet supplemented with propolis (2g/kg of diet),(thermoneutral group 2and heat stress2)fed Digestarom(150mg/kg).( thermoneutral group 3 and heat stress group 3) fed a mixture of (propolis2g/kg +Digestarom150mg/kg) and two control groups without additive. Antibody titers against Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease were measured and Heterophil/lymphocyte ratio was estimated. In heat stress chickens the results revealed a significant decrease(P<0.05)in immune response with significant increased(P<0.05) in Heterophil/lymphocyte ratio, while higher significant (P<0.05)in antibody titers with significant decrease (P<0.05) in Heterophil/lymphocyte ratio was showed in all thermoneutral chickens but more significant in thermoneutral group 3 and heat stress group 3 groups were gave the best values in comparing with others groups. The role of Propolis or phytogenic on broiler health and immunity had already been reported, but in this study was reported the effects of their mixture on ameliorating deleterious effects of heat stress.
Highlights
Environmental stressors especially heat stress is one of the problems affecting successful poultry productive and reproductive performance(1)
Ambient temperatures over thermoneutral (TN) zone of chickens have received more attention, its detrimental effects with heavy economic losses are associated with impaired feed conversion, reduced average daily weight gain, immunosuppressant increased mortality in growing birds and effect on meat quality and egg productions(3 and 4). heat stress (HS) induce immunosuppression of broiler subjected to continuous elevated temperatures(5). heat stress (HS) depressed circulating antibodies leading to reduced systemic humeral immune response and Cell-mediated immunity (6), it affects the developing of immune organs in young chickens, causing decreased relative weights of bursa of Fabricius, thymus and spleen (5)
As it is expensive to cool poultry buildings, certain nutritional manipulations and several feed additives like propolis, Prebiotics and phytobiotics, Probiotics and some vitamins have been found to be helpful(9 and 10). Propolis, it is a natural product, which is collected by honeybees from plants has various biological and therapeutic activities with strong antioxidant properties that improve the growth performance and productivity in birds reared under high ambient temperatures (11 and 12)
Summary
Environmental stressors especially heat stress is one of the problems affecting successful poultry productive and reproductive performance(1). They perform well within a thermoneutral zone range 10 and 26c° of ambient temperature(2). Ambient temperatures over thermoneutral (TN) zone of chickens have received more attention, its detrimental effects with heavy economic losses are associated with impaired feed conversion, reduced average daily weight gain, immunosuppressant increased mortality in growing birds and effect on meat quality and egg productions(3 and 4). Heat stress (HS) depressed circulating antibodies leading to reduced systemic humeral immune response and Cell-mediated immunity (6), it affects the developing of immune organs in young chickens, causing decreased relative weights of bursa of Fabricius, thymus and spleen (5). Propolis (bee glue; BG), it is a natural product, which is collected by honeybees from plants has various biological and therapeutic activities with strong antioxidant properties that improve the growth performance and productivity in birds reared under high ambient temperatures (11 and 12). This study was set up to determine the effects of heat stress on broiler chicks performance and immune systems, and the effect of adding mixture of dietary propolis and /or phytogenic to alleviate this negative effects
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