A study was carried out to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of oregano
essential oil on performance of broiler chickens experimentally infected with Eimeria tenella at 14 days of age. A total of 120 day-old Cobb-500 chicks separated into 4 equal groups with three replicates each, were used in this study. Two groups, one infected with 5 x 10(4) sporulated oocysts of E. tenella and the other not, were given a basal diet and served as controls. The other two groups also infected with E. tenella were administered diets supplemented with oregano
essential oil at a level of 300 mg/kg, or with the anticoccidial
lasalocid at 75 mg/kg. Following this
infection, survival rate, bloody diarrhoea and oocysts excretion as well as lesion score were determined. Throughout the experimental period of 42 days,
body weight gain and feed intake were recorded weekly, and feed conversion ratios were calculated. Two weeks after the
infection with E. tenella supplementation with dietary oregano oil resulted in
body weight gains and feed conversion ratios not differing from the non-infected group, but higher than those of the infected control group and lower than those of the
lasalocid group. These parameters correspond with the extent of bloody diarrhoea, survival rate, lesion score and oocyst numbers and indicated that oregano
essential oil exerted an anticoccidial effect against E. tenella, which was, however, lower than that exhibited by
lasalocid.