Effects of Dietary Quebracho Tannin on Performance Traits and Parasite Load in an Italian Slow-Growing Chicken (White Livorno Breed)

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Acknowledging that excessive use of chemical synthesis products in all animal fields is damaging for live beings and the environment, there is a need to propose natural elements as substitutes. Quebracho tannin may act against microbes, parasites, viruses and fungi, and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. There are few studies on dietary use of condensed tannins in poultry. In this study, dietary Quebracho tannin was tested in growing laying hens of a local pure breed reared under free-range conditions. We found that 2% dietary Quebracho tannin is the maximum inclusion level, and beyond this level becomes detrimental for a growing hen’s health. Quebracho tannin reduced fecal outputs of Nematodes and Coccidia, and this attribute could be helpful for the maintenance of a better litter quality by making birds produce highly dry droppings. ABSTRACT: Tannins have shown numerous biological activities and are very appreciated in food animal production, especially for their antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antivirus effects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of two levels of dietary Quebracho tannin (QT) on growth and performance traits, and possible effects on intestinal parasite load in Italian White Livorno pullets. A 140-day trial was carried out on 180 35-day-old females, fed on two levels of dietary QT inclusion: 0%, 1% and 2%. Birds were reared under free-range conditions. Dietary Quebracho tannin may be used up to 1% in growing female White Livorno chickens without any adverse effects. The results observed in this study on the use of dietary QT at 2% might have not reflected the real effect on performance traits due to the initial inclusion of dietary QT at 3%. Nevertheless, by reducing QT to 2%, a progressive normalization of body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio was observed, resulting in compensatory growth. QT was demonstrated to drastically reduce fecal outputs of Nematodes eggs (Ascaridia spp. and Heterakis spp.) and Coccidia oocytes (Eimeria spp.). The inclusion of 2% produced highly dry droppings.