Effect of essential oils or saponins alone or in combination on productive performance, intestinal morphology and digestive enzymes' activity of broiler chickens

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of essential oils or saponins alone or in combination on productive performance, intestinal morphology, and digestive enzymes' activity in broilers. Four hundred one ‐day‐old male broiler chickens were randomly assigned to four treatments, each with 5 replicates. The birds were fed experimental diets contained either no phytogenic feed additives (control) or were supplemented with 25.0 mg/kg of an essential oil blend from star anise, rosemary, thyme and ore gano (essential oils); 46.0 mg/kg of a Quillaja saponin blend (saponins); or a combination of both phytogenic preparations (essential oils plus saponins). The experiment lasted for 42 days. Body weight, feed intake and weight gain were recorded weekly, and the feed conversion ratio was calculated, throughout the experiment. Intestinal morphology and digestive enzymes' activity were determined at the end of the experiment. It was found that the body weight was increased by all dietary supplements at the end of the experiment. There was no change in performance parameters among the treatments during the starter period. At the grower period and the overall experiment, the weight gain of birds was higher in all supplemented groups compared to the control, but the feed conversion was better in the essential oils with saponins treatment. Supplementation of essential oils or saponins alone or in combination increased the villus height and the villus/crypt ratio of the intes...
Source: Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition - Category: Zoology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research