Effects of calf thymus extract and L-carnitine on immunity and growth performance of broiler chickens

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Increasing the bird’s wealth and increasing the growth rate are among the goals of increasing the animal wealth so; we studied the effects of L-carnitine and calf thymus extract on growth performance and immunity in broiler chickens.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> Eighty broiler chicks were divided into four groups, each group included twenty chicks. Group 1, was negative control with no treatment of feed or water. Group 2, the regular drinking water was replaced by L-carnitine-infused water (1 gram per liter). Group 3, the regular drinking water was replaced by calf thymus extract- infused water (1 ml per liter). Group 4, the regular drinking water was replaced by both L-carnitine and calf thymus extract- infused water. This treatment was administered from day 1 to day 30 of the cycle. Body weight, feed intake and feed conversion were assessed. The hemogram, leuckogram, total protein, globulin, albumin, phagocytic activity, phagocytic index and interleukin 2 were measured. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> The hemogram and leuckogram parameters recorded a significant increase in treated groups compared to non treated group. The final body weight for all treatments was nearly the same, but slightly higher with application of L-carnitine. Phagocytic activity, index, TP, globulin and IL2 were significantly increased in treated groups.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Both L-carnitine and thymus extract have significantly improved the general health condition, in addition, calf thymus extract improved not only the general body condition but also act has immunomodulatory effect which require more further studies.</p>