Comparison of the effect of probiotic, prebiotic, salinomycin and vaccine in control of coccidiosis in broiler chickens

Background: Coccidiosis is the most common parasitic disease in poultry, ionophore antibiotics are preferred drugs for controlling this disease. However, prolonged use of ionophores will result in Eimeria deformation and resistance to these drugs. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of probiotic and prebiotic, that is used to boost digestive system health, with salinomycin and vaccine in controlling coccidiosis. Methods: A completely randomized design, including 6 treatments, 4 replications and 20 birds in each experimental unit was applied. All experimental groups except negative control were challenged with suspension containing a mixture of three common species in Iran by oral inoculation in the crop at 28 days of age. Results: The results showed that the reduction of oocyst excretion was significant in coccidiostat (salinomycin), vaccine (Livacox® T), and probiotic (Primalac®) compared to the positive control group (P<0.05). Also, in the intestinal tract injuries, there was a significant reduction between the vaccine and salinomycin compared to the positive control group only in the cecum section (P<0.05). The effect of treatments on performance index (PI) was investigated and it was found that the best performance between infected groups was for salinomycin and vaccine groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Finally, it can be concluded that probiotic and prebiotic are not effective in controlling coccidiosis and its complications like vaccine and salinomycin.