Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Research Article
Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci. 2 (4): 204 - 211
http://dx.doi.org/10.14737/journal.aavs/2014/2.4.204.211
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Hosnia S. Abdel-Mohsein1, Manal A. M. Mahmoud1*, Usama T. Mahmoud2
1Department of Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, 71526, Assiut – Egypt; 2Livestock Behavior research Unite, USDA–ARS, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
*Corresponding author: egymanal@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The negative impact of summer temperature in Egypt is an issue of great concern in poultry health and production. In this regard, the possibility of using ether extract propolis (EEP), as a natural additive, in broilers diets exposed to high environmental temperature is being researched. Lactobacilli spp. and bifidobacteria as well as total aerobic and coliform bacterial count in heat– stressed broiler chicks were determined. Effect of EEP on total aerobic and coliform bacteria in litter, kept under high environmental temperature, was also assessed. Broilers were held at 38±1.4oC from day 15 till the end of the study at day 42. During the study, broilers (Ross 308) were distributed to four dietary treatments; a control diet and three diets containing 250, 500 and 750 mg/kg diet EEP. Results revealed that propolis might alleviate hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis response induced by heat stress through increasing both lactobacilli and bifidobacteria and reducing total aerobics and coliform bacteria within the gut of broiler chicks. In addition, the positive effect of EEP in suppressing the total aerobic and coliform bacterial counts in broilers litter has been clearly shown at the end of the experiment.

Key Words: Propolis, Heat stress, Lactobacilli, Total aerobics, Coliforms, Litter