A total of 1500 day old broiler chicks were grouped into five treatments; each treatment group further consisted of six replicates. Group A was given a control diet having antibiotics. Group B and C were offered essential oil blend at the proportion of 0.1 g/kg and organic acid at the dose rate of 1g/kg. Group D was given both essential oil 0.1 g/kg and organic acid 1g/kg in combination. Group E was offered only a basal diet without antibiotics and considered as a negative control. The trial lasted for 35 days. Results indicated that the body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) exhibited significant improvement but insignificant in the case of feed consumption. Bodyweight and FCR were better in group B, followed by C. Carcass characteristics like eviscerated weight and giblet weight were also improved in group B while dressed weight showed insignificant results. Total cholesterol and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) were unaffected by the treatments; however, increased blood glucose levels and decreased low-density lipoproteins (LDL) concentration were significantly noticed. Treatment groups have no effect on antibody titer against ND at the end of the trial. In gut morphology, significantly higher villus height was observed in group C, but villus width and crypt depth remained unaffected. In conclusion, essential oil and organic acids have improved performance, carcass parameters, serum biochemistry, gut health, and decreased bacterial count.

Due to the human population explosion, demand for food, especially meat, has also increased. Increasing mutton production, in this scenario, is one way to mitigate this emerging issue as it nourishes a large human population. However, its production is challenging due to high feeding costs. This study was executed to develop cost-effective feed for mutton goat production by adding dried citrus pulp to the total mixed ration. Citrus pulp was used as an energy source instead of corn grain. A total of 12 bucks were divided into 4 groups, each having 3 animals. After 21 days of adaptation, bucks were assigned to experimental groups. The experimental groups were designated as A, B, C and D. They were fed TMR with 0, 10, 15 and 20% dried citrus pulp, respectively, as a replacement for corn grain for 90 days. The effect of the dried citrus pulp inclusion on the bucks’ growth performance such as feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio was evaluated on weekly basis. Hematological and biochemical parameters including total protein, triglycerides, cholesterol, complete blood count and serum antioxidant (catalase) activity were also determined. Results indicated that all hematological and biochemical parameters showed non-significant differences among the control and treatment groups. Weekly weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were equal in corn based as well as in dried citrus pulp-based diet with a lower feeding cost for the latter. It is concluded that the use of dried citrus pulp up to 20% as a replacement of corn in ration of fattening bucks is economical to use without any adverse effects.