International Journal of Poultry Science 9 (7): 648-651, 2010 ISSN 1682-8356 © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2010 Corresponding Author: W.L. Willis, Department of Animal Sciences, North Carolina A & T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina 27411, USA 648 Comparing the Feeding of Fungus Myceliated Grain with Other Anticoccidial Control Measures on Oocyst Excretion of Eimeria Challenged Broilers W.L. Willis , O.S. Isikhuemhen , R.C. Minor , S. Hurley and E.I. Ohimain 1 2 1 1 2 Department of Animal Sciences, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design, 1 2 North Carolina A & T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina 27411, USA Abstract: An experiment was conducted to determine if dietary Fungus Myceliated Grain (FMG) as an alternative to other coccidiosis control measures would result in oocyst reduction in the presence of a field strain Eimeria challenge during grow out. A total of 144 broiler chicks were assigned to 8 treatment groups as follows: 1) Control (no coccidiosis protection - no challenge); 2) 5%-FMG (no challenge); 3) Inovocox (IC) (no challenge); 4) Coccivac-B (CB) (no challenge); 5) Control (no coccidiosis protection, challenged); 6) 5% FMG (challenged); 7) Inovocox (IC) (challenged) and 8) Coccivac-B (CB) (challenged). Broilers were challenged with a mixture of E. acervelina, E. maxma and E. tenella at 28 days of age. Fecal oocyst egg count, mortality and whole blood differentials were measured. The Eimeria counts 1 week post challenge were significantly higher for all challenged chickens (trts 5-8) as compared to unchallenged (trts 1-4). Oocyst counts at day 49 of challenged but unprotected chickens (trt 5) was significantly (p>0.05) greater and showed a higher percentage of mortality when compared to challenged treated groups (trt 6-8). Treatment 6 (5% FMG) led to a reduction in fecal oocyst counts and protected against mortality at rates comparable to the vaccine control methods. Additionally, there were comparable increases in macrophages, heterophils and lymphocytes in the 5% FMG and vaccine groups. The results from this study strongly suggest that a diet supplemented with 5% FMG can be used as an alternative to other coccidiosis control methods in reducing Eimeria oocyst numbers during grow out. Key words: Broilers, fungus myceliated grain, coccidiosis, alternative control INTRODUCTION Each year, in the United States, the broiler industry either spends millions of dollars protecting birds from coccidiosis infection, or absorbs losses associated with this parasitic disease. The economic impact of coccidiosis on the world poultry industry is estimated to exceed $3 billion annually (Bal, 2009). Traditionally, most commercial poultry flocks receive anticoccidial medication as a feed additive to control coccidiosis. Despite these control measures and using rotation and shuttle programs with the feed additives, coccidiosis continues to be a major challenge for efficient poultry production. Particularly troublesome is the continual emergence of drug resistant strains of coccidiosis in the poultry industry. Therefore, there is great interest in developing alternative methods of control. Recently, the introduction of a new coccidiosis vaccine (Inovocox) has provided a new tool to help control one of industry’s most costly diseases. Other approaches are gaining attention, including mushroom extracts as a treatment for coccidiosis. Most reports in the literature for these products are based on in vitro evidence, or studies conducted with humans, rodents and other species. Bioactive compounds in mushrooms that function as Experimental design and husbandry: A total of 144 day- medicines to animals and humans have been reported old Ross x Ross straight-run broiler chicks were in experiments (Li, 1998). Guo et al. (2004) reported that obtained from a local commercial hatchery. The chicks supplementation with mushroom and herb extracts resulted in enhancement of both cellular and humoral immune responses in E. tenella-infected chickens. In another study, Ogbe et al. (2009) reported that the wild mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) used to treat E. tenella infected broilers resulted in a reduction in the number of E. tenella oocysts shed in the faeces and led to improved weight gain. There are some reports demonstrating positive effects from feeding fungal myceliated grain to chickens (Willis et al., 2009; 2010) and these researchers have observed its potential to control coccidiosis. Therefore, using mushrooms to protect broiler chickens from coccidiosis and other diseases has a promising future. The restriction and removal of subtherapeutic antibiotics from poultry rations in many parts of the world has raised interest in natural health alternatives. As such, this experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary fungal myceliated grain supplementation on Eimeria oocyst egg count and mortality of broilers with and without Eimeria challenge. MATERIALS AND METHODS