Two hundred and forty, one day old broiler chicken were randomly divided into eight equal groups. The 1st group was control. The 2nd group was given saltose from the 1st day of age till the end of experiment at a dose 1gm / kg of ration. The 3rd group was infected intra crop with inoculums containing 0.5x109 cfu ̸ ml Clostridium perfringens at 15 days of age .The 4th group infected intra crop with 75000 sporulated oocyte of Eimeria necatrix at 15 days of age .The 5th group was infected with inoculums containing 0.5x109 cfu ̸ ml Clostridium perfringens and 75000 sporulated oocyts of Eimeria necatrix intra crop at 15 days of age. The 6th group given saltose from the 1st day and infected with Clostridium perfringens as in group3. The 7th group was given saltose as in group 2 and infected with Eimeria necatrix as in the 4th group. The 8th group was given saltose as in group 2 and infected with Clostridium perfringens and Eimeria necatrix as in group 5. Three blood samples were collected from all groups at 21 days and at 28 days of age. The 1st blood sample was collected with anticoagulant for RBCѕ and differential leucocytic count. The 2nd blood sample was collected without anticoagulant for serum separation for measuring ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase and IgA. The 3rd blood sample was collected by heart puncture under strict aseptic condition on heparin for immunological examination. Necropsy was performed and the intestinal tracts of sacrificed chickens of all challenged groups (groups 3, 5, 6, 8) at 7, 14 and 21 days post challenged were collected for bacterial count and for DNA analysis by PCR to recognize the enterotoxin gene that produced during sporulation and demonstrate the efficacy of Saltose on the cell wall microorganism . Also tissue specimens were collected from the intestine (small, large and ceci), liver, kidneys, heart and spleen, fixed in 10% buffered neutral formalin for Pathological examination.
The results showed that the probiotic Saltose reduced the severity of the necrotic enteritis due to Clostridium perfringens infection through the intestinal bacterial count, DNA analysis by PCR, hematological, biochemical and histopathological findings, also alleviated the pathological changes demonstrated by Eimeria necatrix infestation.
These results imply that the Saltose based probiotic was able to reduce the severities of necrotic enteritis (NE) and ameliorate the pathological changes associated with coccidiosis.
Key words: Probiotics - chickens - Clostrdia - Coccidia
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