Growth performance, carcass characteristics, and immune responses in broiler chickens fed dietary oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) leaves as an alternative for antibiotic growth promoter
Subject Areas : Journal of Medicinal Herbs, "J. Med Herb" (Formerly known as Journal of Herbal Drugs or J. Herb Drug)Seyed kazem Mosavi 1 , Majid Toghyani 2 , Farshid Kheiri 3 , Nasir Landy 4
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4 - Department of Animal Science, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
Keywords: Broiler, Carcass characteristics, Immunity, Oregano, Performance ,
Abstract :
Background & Aim: Since the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) have been banned in many countries, there is an urgent need to find a suitable alternative for them. Meanwhile, in recent years, special attention has been paid to herbal compounds. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) as an alternative for AGPs on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and immune responses in broiler chickens. Experimental: A total of 192 one-d-old female broiler chicks (Ross 308) were weighted and randomly allotted to 16 cages (12 chicks/cage). The dietary treatments were as follows: basal diet as a control, control + 4.5 mg flavophospholipol/kg, or control + 5 or 10 g oregano leaves powder/kg of diet. Results: Final body weight of broilers were not significantly affected by the dietary treatments, although it tended to increase in broilers fed diets containing antibiotic or 10 g oregano/kg of diet (P>0.05). Daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of broilers were not significantly affected by the dietary treatments; although during the whole experiment (0-42 d) FCR tended to improve in broilers fed diets containing antibiotic or 10 g oregano/kg of diet (P>0.05). The antibody titers against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) were significantly higher in broilers fed diets containing 5 g oregano/kg of diet (P<0.05). Recommended applications/industries: In conclusion, the results indicate that supplementation of broiler diet with 5 g oregano/kg could enhance antibody titers against NDV without adverse effects on performance criteria.
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