Consumption of Pistacia lentiscus foliage alleviates coccidiosis in young goats

Coccidiosis near weaning is a major cause of diarrhea, ill-thrift, and impaired performance in small ruminants. A recent survey showed that in villages of the Samaria Hills, Israel, shepherds treat young, weaned goat kids afflicted with diarrhea by cutting and feeding them the foliage of Pistacia lentiscus L. (lentisk) or by tethering them close to lentisk bushes which they browse. The aim of the present study was to assess whether lentisk leaves do indeed have anti-coccidial value, and, if positive, to ascertain the role of tannins in this effect. We monitored for 24 (Experiment 1) and 30 (Experiment 2) days the effect of lentisk feeding on the development of naturally occurring coccidiosis in weaned kids artificially infected with parasitic nematodes. In Experiment 1, kids were infected with nematodes and fed lentisk foliage (PIS) or cereal hay (HAY). Coccidiosis developed at the early stage of the nematode infection, when dietary treatments were initiated. Kids in the PIS group had a lower (P