Date of Graduation

12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Poultry Science

Advisor/Mentor

Hargis, Billy

Committee Member/Reader

Erf, Gisela

Committee Member/Second Reader

Tellez, Guillermo

Abstract

The goal of this study was to show how dietary supplementation of three different formulations of essential oils (EO) affected the performance of broiler chickens during heat stress (HS). Day-of-hatch Cobb 500 chicks (n = 500) were randomly divided into four groups: 1. HS control + control diets; 2. HS + control meals supplemented with 37 ppm EO of Lippia origanoides (LO); 3. HS + control diets supplemented with 45 ppm LO + 45 ppm EO of Rosmarinus officinalis (RO) + 300 ppm red beetroot; 4. HS + 45 ppm LO + 45 ppm RO + 300 ppm natural betaine. When compared to control HS chickens, the EO chickens had a substantial (p ≤ 0.05) improvement in BW, BWG, FI, and FCR. Average body core temperature in group 3 and group 4 was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced compared with the HS control group and essential oil group 2. When compared to the HS control, experimental groups demonstrated a substantial reduction in FITC-d at 42 days, a significant rise in SOD at both days, but a significant loss in IFN-γ and IgA (p ≤ 0.05). Treating birds with EO enhanced bone mineralization considerably (p ≤ 0.05). These findings imply that dietary EO supplementation may help to minimize the adverse effects of HS.

Keywords

broiler chickens, essential oils, heat stress, Lippia origanoides, Rosmarinus officinalis, service learning

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