Abstract
Due to the emergence of drug resistance against synthetic chemicals, effective alternatives like essential oils are required for the control of coccidiosis in poultry. Hence, the present in-vivo experiment was conducted on Citrus (C.) sinensis essential oil for investigation of its anticoccidial efficacy. For this purpose, 72 day -old chicks were procured from local market and divided randomly into six equal groups: A, B, C, D, E and F. On day 14, all the groups except F were administered with 50,000 sporulated oocysts (mixed Eimeria species). On the same day, groups A, B and C were given 1, 2 and 3% of C. sinensis essential oil, respectively, in feed, group D with Toltrazuril (R) while groups E and F were left unmedicated. The results revealed C. sinensis essential oil to have positive effect on FCR in broilers. Moreover, there was a significant improvement in oocysts per gram of faeces, lesion score, oocyst score and faecal score in oil treated broilers at the maximum inclusion level of 3% comparable to the standard control. However, apart from significant effect on WBCs count and serum levels of ALT and LDH, C. sinensis essential oil had very limited non-significant effect on hematological and serum biochemical parameters, and organs' weight. Thus, the present study provided C. sinensis essential oil to be an alternate anticoccidial agent which can be used in coccidiosis control programs after further validation.