Abstract
In the current study with broiler chickens, the objective was to assess whether a mannanoligosaccharide (MOS) preparation would have anticoccidial activity. One-day-old birds were given a single, mild coccidiosis infection with a mixture of three
Eimeria species:
Eimeria acervulina,
Eimeria maxima and
Eimeria tenella. Infected and non-infected birds were fed a diet without or with 10
g
MOS/kg. Growth performance, feed intake and feed conversion were not different (P>0.05) among the treatment groups. The feeding of the MOS preparation reduced oocyst excretion and diminished the severity of coccidiosis lesions induced by
E. acervulina (P<0.05) but did not affect the lesions mediated by
E. maxima and
E. tenella (P=0.69 and 0.84, respectively). Further research is necessary to explain the observed effects in terms of mechanisms and to assess their practical relevance.