Abstract
The poultry farms need a safe and effective alternative for antibiotics that can counteract the negative impacts of necrotic enteritis (NE), which causes severe mortalities and economic losses. The current study was aimed to examine the influence of antibiotic (Flagymox) and the microbial-based administration on carcass traits in Clostridium (C.) perfringens-infected Cobb and Arbor Acres broilers. A total number of 360 Cobb and Arbor Acres broiler chicks (180 numbers per breed) were allocated to four groups; negative control group (without any treatments); positive control group (administration of C. perfringens at the rate of 1 x 10(9)cfu/bird via crop gavage twice daily from day 16 to 18 post-hatch); C. perfringens challenge plus antibiotic (Flagymox(R)) group, and Clostridium perfringens challenge plus microbial-based treatment (Big-lacto alpha(R)) group. The results indicated that the Flagymox and Big-lacto alpha treated Cobb breed group achieved a significant increase in their body weight (BW) than the positive control group at the third week post-infection. Also, the Arbor Acres breed gained significantly higher weight compared to the Cobb breed at the third week. Total weight gain (TWG) from 0 to the fifth week in the Cobb and Arbor Acres breeds were higher in the groups treated with Flagymox and Big-lacto alpha compared to the birds challenged with C. perfringens without any treatment, thus, increasing the total return (TR) in the treated groups. Economic efficiency showed no significant differences (p < .05) between the treatment groups of both the breeds. Although the treatment cost of Flagymox is higher than the microbial-based treatment (0.86 versus 0.35 LE), there were no mortalities reported in the microbial-based groups in both the breeds resulting in significantly low losses compared to the Flagymox treated groups. The groups treated with the microbial-based products in both breeds were superior in dressing percentage (75.16 and 77.06% for Cobb and Arbor Acres, respectively) compared to that of the other groups. In conclusion, microbial-based therapy improved the growth rate, carcass traits, survival rate, and economic efficiency in necrotic enteritis induced in Cobb and Arbor Acres broilers.