Effects of Ground Thyme and Probiotic Supplements in Diets on Broiler Performance, Blood Biochemistry and Immunological Response to Sheep Red Blood Cells

Abstract

A trial was conducted to study the effects of the aromatic plant thyme, a commercial probiotic (Protexin) and avilamycin on broiler performance, blood biochemical parameters and also the antibody response to sheep red blood cells. A total of 750 broilers were assigned into five replicate groups for each of five dietary treatments, namely; control (C), 2.5 mg/kg avilamycin (AB), 0.1 g/kg commercial probiotic (P), 5 g/kg ground thyme (T1), and 7.5 g/kg ground thyme (T2). In general, body weight, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio were not affected by dietary treatments compared to the control birds (P>0.05). Birds fed the P supplemented treatment had the greatest serum protein levels (P<0.001) and highest albumin levels (P<0.001) when compared with control birds, while the birds fed T2 had the lowest (P<0.001). Dietary supplementation reduced (P<0.001) cholesterol and triglyceride concentration in serum of broilers, with the effect were more noticeable by P supplements. Moreover, blood calcium and phosphorus concentrations were higher (P<0.001) in birds fed the P-supplemented diet compared to the birds fed the control diets.This study suggests that probiotic supplementation in particular, and to an intermediate extent ground thyme supplementation in diets of broiler, resulted in chicks with favorably improved blood biochemical parameters and mineral utilization, compared to the birds fed diets supplemented with avilamycin or without any supplementation.

Thyme oil (Thyme vulgaris L.) as a natural growth promoter for broiler chickens reared under hot climate

“…In addition, a higher globulin level and a lower A/G ratio in TO_1.5 group when compared to the control, is suggestive for a better disease resistance and immune response of birds as indicated by Bovera et al (2015). The enhancements in the general health status of the broilers fed different TO supplementations could be attributed, as previously mentioned, to the increase in digestion and absorption of feeds and to the antimicrobial, antioxidants effects and fatty acid profile (Bozkurt et al 2012;Hosseini et al 2013;Ma sek et al 2014;Hady et al 2016).…”

“…In addition, Feizi et al (2013) showed that TO improved growth performance and reduced the mortality of broilers. On the other hand, Hosseini et al (2013) and Fallah and Mirzaei (2016) concluded that thyme powder at 1, 1.5 and 5 g/kg diet did not affect the growth performance of broilers, and the hot water extracted thyme administered at 5g/l did not affect the growth performance of broilers during 1-21 days of age (Sadeghi et al 2012). Another study with broilers indicated that, thyme extract added at 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6% to the broiler diet did not affect BWG, feed intake and FCR during 1-42 days of age (Pourmahmoud et al 2013;Hady et al 2016).…”

“…It was demonstrated that thymol and carvacrol concentrations from 100 to 1000 ppm displayed a positive effect on broiler production (Hosseini et al, 2013;Pourmahmoud et al 2013) and on blood metabolites and immune responses (Fallah & Mirzaet 2016). The difference in results cited in literature regarding the effect of thyme on animal performance may be due to the different thyme products used in the trials (oil, powder or different extracts), emphasising the need for continued research.…”

Comparison of the effects of basil (&lt;i&gt;Ocimum basilicum&lt;/i&gt;) essential oil, avilamycin and protexin on broiler performance, blood biochemistry and carcass characteristics

“…However, Abbas (2010) reported that feeding dietary basil seed (3 g kg −1 ) significantly reduced the plasma cholesterol level in broilers. The results obtained do not agree with those reported by Azadegan Mehr et al (2014) and Hosseini et al (2013b), who found that adding protexin to broilers' rations significantly decreased plasma total cholesterol. Eslami et al (2010) and Hosseini et al (2013a) added avilamycin to the diets of broilers and reported that no significant differences in plasma lowand high-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol or triglyceride were observed.…”

Impact of Dietary Thyme (Thymus Vulgaris) on Broiler Chickens Concerning Immunity, Antioxidant Status, and Performance

“…Ocak et al (2008) found that body weight gain, feed intake or feed conversion ratio were not significantly affected by dietary supplementation of thyme leaves. Hosseini et al (2016) found that body weight, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio were not affected by dietary supplementation of 5 g/kg and 7.5 g/kg ground thyme compared to the control birds.…”