Evaluation of the Effects of Natural and Pharmacological Factors (Prosopis farcta Fruit Powder and Oxytetracycline) on Productive and Physiological Performance of Broiler Chickens under Escherichia coli Challenge

The experiment was carried out at poultry farm, Agricultural Research and Experiment Station, College of Agriculture, Al-Muthanna University, from November 17, 2024 to December 22, 2024. 360 unsexed one-day-old Ross 308 hybrid broiler chicks were used in this experiment. The chicks were randomly distributed into six experimental treatments, with 60 chicks per treatment and four replicates (15 chicks per replicate). The experimental treatments were: T1: Control treatment (not infected with E. coli). T2: Infected with E. coli (not treated). T3: Add 10 ml of Prosopis farcta aqueous extract powder (PFE) per liter of drinking water to broilers not infected with E. coli. T4: Add 10 ml of PFE powder per liter of drinking water to broilers infected with E. coli. T5: Add 10 mg of the antibiotic oxytetracycline per liter of drinking water to broilers not infected with E. coli. T6: Add 10 mg of the antibiotic oxytetracycline per liter of drinking water to broilers infected with E. coli. The results of our current study indicate that the use of PFE at a concentration of 10 ml/L of drinking water significantly improved (P≤0.05) the productive traits (body weight, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio), Immunological traits and oxidative stress markers comparison of other treatments whether infected or uninfected with E. coli. We conclude that the PFE gave better results than the antibiotic oxytetracycline, this is due to the presence of active compounds in PFE fruit powder, which act as a natural antibiotic against the pathogenic E. coli bacteria.