Evaluation of an essential oil blend in young broilers fed rye wheat based diet

Published: July 29, 2013

By: F. Yan, J. Dibner, and M. Vazquez-Anon Novus International Inc. St. Charles, MO

One battery study was conducted to evaluate effect of a synthetic 1:1 thymol carvacrol blend (NEXT ENHANCE® 150) on growth performance and gut health of broilers fed rye wheat based diet and challenged with mixed species of Eimeria on day 0. A rye wheat and soybean meal based diet was formulated to meet or exceed nutrient requirements of broilers. To this basal diet, the essential oil blend was added at 0, 30, 60, or 120 g/ton to provide 0, 15, 30, or 60 g/ton essential oils, in which half was thymol and half was carvacrol. BMD at 50 g/ton and a nonstarch polysaccharides (NSP) degrading enzyme blend (containing xylanase, β-glucanase, and α-galactosidase; CIBENZA® CSM, Novus International, Inc.) at 500 g/ton served as positive controls. Each of the 6 test diets was fed to 8 replicate pens of 8 male broilers from 0 to 31 day of age. Growth performance was measured at day 7, 14, 21, and 29. Gut health parameters measured were serum uric acid and α-1 acid glycoprotein on day 7, ileal Clostridium perfringens on day 15, ileal Lactobacilli on day 30, and digesta viscosity on day 31. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and statements of significance were based on P<0.05. Essential oil blend at 60 g/ton significantly improved overall body weight by 14% (1012 g versus 886 g) and FCR by 15 points (1.869 versus 2.019) and its effect was not significantly different from BMD. The NSP enzyme blend significantly increased body weight, feed intake and improved FCR and the effect was greater than BMD or essential oil blend. Only the NSP enzyme blend significantly reduced digesta viscosity. Serum α-1 acid glycoprotein and uric acid concentration, and ilealClostridium perfringens and Lactobacilli counts were not significantly affected by dietary treatments. The study demonstrated that an essential oil blend delivered a similar improvement in performance to BMD in broilers under gut health challenge and could be an effective tool in antibiotic free broiler production.

Key words: broilers, gut health, essential oil

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