Performance and physiological responses of E. coli-challenged broiler chickens to dietary Moringa oleifera

This study was conducted toexamine the effects ofMoringa oleifera (MO) seed powder onthe performance and gut health ofbroilers challenged with E.coli. Atotal of720 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to72pens across two separate rooms, following a2 6factorial design. The factors per room included (i)challenge: nooryes, and (ii)feed additive: control (none), antibiotic [oxytetracycline (OTC) at0.5g/kg], MO 0.1%, MO 0.2%, MO 0.4%, and MO 0.8%. At9days old, birds inboth challenged and non-challenged rooms were inoculated with 1.5ml ofE.coli-O157:H7 inoculant (3.8 10⁸CFU) and 1.5ml ofsaline, respectively. Performance data showed that, throughout the study, unchallenged birds had better weight gain (WG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) than challenged birds. Onday35, broilers given OTC and all MO levels showed improved WG (P<0.001) and FCR (P< 0.003). Interactions between challenge and additives were observed onday 10 for FCR (P= 0.031); ondays24 and 35 for WG (P< 0.001); and ondays24 and 35 for FCR (P < 0.004 and P = 0.002, respectively). Onday 24, challenged birds fed all MO levels exhibited higher WG and better FCR than challenged controls, while onday35, both challenged and unchallenged MO-fed birds showed improved WG and FCR compared tocontrol groups. E.coli significantly increased crypt depth (CD), jejunum muscle thickness, and caecal E.coli colonies. MO significantly enhanced villus height (VH), the VH : CD ratio, villous tip width, and surface area, while decreasing CD, muscle thickness, and E.coli colonies. Challenged birds had significantly lower serum total protein, albumin, and Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) titres, while serum alanine aminotransferase ALT activity was higher than innon-challenged birds. Overall, Moringa at0.4% showed comparable orbetter results than OTC inpreventing E.coli-induced declines in broiler performance and gut health.