Journal of Animal Research

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious disease that causes devastating effects in the economy of backyard poultry farmers. Even though, vaccination is highly effective in controlling the disease, the protective antibody titres can only be achieved after second dose of ND vaccine at 3-4 weeks of age. Certain herbs have immune-stimulant property, thus supplementation of herbs can help the chicks to attain the protective antibody titres earlier. In the present study, chicks were fed with Phyllanthus amarus as whole plant along with Cuminum cyminum (seeds) water to hasten the production of antibodies to ND vaccines. Humoral immune responses were assessed in terms of haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers. Morphometric analysis small intestinal villi were performed to assess the impact of herbal supplements on gut health. Our results showed that birds supplemented with herbs mounted a better immune response to ND vaccines. Birds received herbs attained HI titres ≥log₂4 as early as 7 days after the primary vaccination (P<0.001) and continued to have protective antibody titres until 60 days-of-hatch. Intestinal morphometry revealed that herbal supplementation significantly improved the length of villi in duodenum (P<0.01) and jejunal portions of small intestine. In conclusion, we suggest that feeding of P. amarus and C. cyminum aids birds to elicit better and earlier protective immune response against ND and improve gut health of backyard poultry.