Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of administrating herbal extracts of Echinacea purpurea and Thymus vulgaris into broilers drinking water on performance, immune response and serum biochemical and Phyto hemagglutinin. 270 day-old Ross chicks were assigned to nine dietary treatments in a randomized manner. Each treatment was given to two replicates of 15 birds. The variables of T. vulgaris extract were 1% and 2% and variables of E. purpurea extract were 0%, 1% and 2% in drinking water. Body Weight (BW), Feed Intake (FI) and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) were recorded at the end of the experiment. Antibody responses against Newcastle disease viruses were measured after blood sampling at 42 days of age. The plant extracts did not affect BW, FI and FCR (P > 0.05). Antibody titers against NDV were significantly affected by the administration of E. purpurea (P < 0.05). The highest elevation was for the birds that were administrated with 2% E. purpurea from 1 to 42 days (P < 0.05). Administration of thyme extracts had improved serum biochemical parameters as compared with Echinacea and control group. It was concluded that under these research conditions, high levels of E. purpurea extracts had increased the broiler chickens’ immunity.