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Tackling the future challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry - vTI

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! Agriculture and Forestry Research, Special Issue No 362 (Braunschweig, 2012) ISSN 0376-0723<br />

Download: www.vti.bund.de/en/startseite/vti-publications/landbauforschung-special-issues.html<br />

176<br />

Dietary supplementation <strong>of</strong> Artemisia annua to free range broilers<br />

and its effects on gastro-intestinal parasite infections<br />

GUSTAVO F. D. ALMEIDA 1 , KLAUS HORSTED 1 , STIG M. THAMSBORG 2 AND<br />

JOHN E. HERMANSEN 1<br />

1 Department <strong>of</strong> Agroecology, Faculty <strong>of</strong> Sciences and Technology, Aarhus University, Research<br />

Centre Foulum, Denmark. http://agro.au.dk/en/, eMail:Gustavo.deAlmeida@agrsci.dk;<br />

Klaus.Horsted@agrci.dk; John.Hermansen@agrsci.dk.<br />

2 Danish Centre for Experimental Parasitology, Faculty <strong>of</strong> Health and Medical Sciences,<br />

University <strong>of</strong> Copenhagen, Denmark. http://healthsciences.ku.dk/, eMail: smt@life.ku.dk<br />

Abstract<br />

In a factorial experiment, effects <strong>of</strong> dried leaves <strong>of</strong> Artemisia annua as an anti-parasitic supplement<br />

in two different broiler genotypes, raised in a free range system, were investigated. Birds were<br />

grown indoors until 29 days <strong>of</strong> age free <strong>of</strong> parasites. Twelve groups, each <strong>of</strong> 35 randomly selected<br />

birds naturally infected with coccidia (Eimeria spp.), were placed in plots cultivated with a mix <strong>of</strong><br />

grass and white clover (previous two years without poultry) thus forming three replicates for each<br />

treatment combination (2 genotypes and +/- supplementation <strong>of</strong> A. annua). Ten individual birds<br />

from each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 12 groups (n=120) were monitored twice a week for excretion <strong>of</strong> coccidia oocysts<br />

(OPG) and gastrointestinal nematode eggs (EPG). At <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trial, when broilers were 74<br />

days <strong>of</strong> age, 5 broilers per plot (n=60) were necropsied and <strong>the</strong>ir intestines opened for coccidia<br />

speciation and to account for <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> gastrointestinal nematodes. In general, broilers from<br />

both genotypes coped well with coccidia infections as no deaths were reported. Broilers supplemented<br />

with A. annua showed a reduced number <strong>of</strong> excreted oocysts (67% less; p

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