Effects of feeding mixtures of herbs on coccidial shedding and weight gain in lambs

Introduction: An additional feeding based on herbs was tested in lambs for its efficacy against shedding of Eimeria spp. and weight gain. Material and methods: Three mixtures of herbs were used: powdry herbs P (garlic, turmic, himalayan cedar, ginger, long pepper), pelleted herbs V (garlic, slippery elm, peppermint, thyme, cleavers, cinnamon, common nettle, quassia root), liquid extract herbs A (garlic, mugwort, walnut, clove). Trial 1: The lambs in the sheep farm were fed a pelletized lamb feed concentrate from the first day of life until the time of weaning at the age of 8 weeks (19 kg bodyweight) in a creep feed. Lambs not fullfilling this weight criterion were weaned 4 weeks later (week 12). The herbs P was mixed into the concentrate for the trial group (4 kg/ton). Examinations for coccidial count and weight gain were conducted at 4 weeks of age, at weaning and 4 weeks after weaning. Trial 2: 24 already weaned and fattening lambs with an age of 17 weeks were allocated to 4 groups (herbs P, herbs V, herbs A, control). The lambs were on the pasture every day for 5 hours. In the stable hay and 300 g of barley grain was fed. The additional feeding of herbs took place with the concentrate. Herbs P were fed daily in the beginning for three weeks (8 g/day/animal). Herbs V (10 g/day/animal) and herbs A (20 ml/day/animal) were fed daily for a week in the beginning and 4 weeks later for another week. Weight gain and coccidial count were conducted weekly. Results: Trial 1: Especially the lambs weaned with an age of 12 weeks had significant better weight gain than the control lambs. In trial 2 no statistical differences were found in weight gain. No long-lasting differences in coccidial count were found in both trials. Conclusions: Feeding herbs over a longer period of time had positive effects on production parameters. More information about duration of additional feeding and time of application during special events (parturition, weaning, etc.) would be usefull.