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The use of medicinal plants and their derivatives can stimulate feed consumption, increase daily weight, feed conversion ratio, increase shelf life, improve the health and function of the digestive system. It seems that the use of an optimal mixture of several medicinal plants in the diet has positive effects on performance and carcass quality of broiler chickens in comparison to each one. Nowadays, with the popularization of ready-made feed in raising broiler chickens, many breeders tend to add food additives in drinking water. Therefore, it is a question that adding these compounds in feed or drinking water makes a difference. Three commercial plant additives that are used today are Coxan, O.X. Plant, and Entex. Coxan contains oregano (with the active ingredient of menthol) and garlic (with the active ingredients of allin and allicin), O.X. Plant contains savory (with the active ingredients of carvacrol and thymol), thyme (with the active ingredients of thymol and carvacrol) and red pepper oleoresin (with the active ingredient of capsaicin), Entex contains cinnamon (with the active ingredient of cinnamaldehyde), and garlic and eucalyptus (with the active ingredient of cineol). The aim of this research was to compare the effects of using these commercial plant additives (in water and feed) on growth performance, intestinal microflora and morphology and immune response of broilers.
A total of 336 Ross 308 broilers were examined in a completely randomized design with seven treatments, four replications, and 12 chickens per replication. Experimental treatments included: control (without phytogenic in feed or water), Coxan in feed (300 mg/kg) and in water (200 mL/1000 L), O.X. Plant in feed (200 mg/kg) and in water (135 mL/1000 L) and Entex in feed (500 mg/kg) and water (350 mL/1000 L). Daily weight gain, daily feed intake, daily water intake and feed conversion ratio were measured. At 42 days of age, two birds were selected from each experimental unit and after slaughter, the length of the intestinal components was measured separately (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum). To determine the microbial population, samples were taken from the ileum of chickens. EMB culture medium was used to determine Escherichia coli population and MRS culture medium was used for Lactobacillus bacteria. To check the humoral immune response, 0.1 mL of 25% sheep red blood cell solution in PBS was injected into the breast muscle of chickens on the 12th and 29th days of rearing. Blood was taken from the chickens on the 28th, 35th and 42nd days of breeding and the levels of Anti-SRBC, and immunoglobulins G and M were calculated. Antibody titer against Newcastle disease was measured by HI method.
The effect of additives in water and feed on average daily feed consumption, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and daily water consumption was not significant in the whole period. Since the amount of water consumed by the chickens did not change, it can be concluded that the additives added to the water in the examined amounts do not have a spicy or unpleasant taste that would cause the birds to refuse to drink water. The relative length of duodenum, jejunum, cecum and colon was not affected by experimental treatments. However, the relative length of the ileum was lower in the chickens that received Entex in the feed compared to the control group. No significant difference was observed in the relative length of different parts of the intestine in the treatments that received herbal additives either in feed or water. The relative length of duodenum, jejunum, cecum, and colon, villus length, villus area, crypt depth, thickness of lamina propria, thickness of muscular layer, and thickness of advantis layer were not affected by experimental treatments. The chickens that consumed 500 mg/kg of Entex herbal additive of feed had a lower villus width in the ileum region compared to the control group chickens. The population of Escherichia coli bacteria in the ileum of chickens that had received the addition of O.X. Plant and Entex in the feed decreased compared to the control group. The population of Escherichia coli bacteria in the Entex treatment in the feed was also reduced compared to the Coxan treatment in the feed. The population of Lactobacillus bacteria in the ileum of chickens that received Coxan in water, O.X. Plant in feed and water, and Entex in feed increased compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in the population of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus bacteria in the treatments that received herbal additives either in feed or in water. The use of plant essential oils in poultry feed, while improving the microbial population by increasing the number of lactobacilli, by improving the morphological characteristics of the intestine, probably improves the ability of digestion and absorption in the digestive system and improves the growth efficiency of broiler chickens. Antibody levels against SRBC were higher at 28, 35, and 42 days in all chickens consuming herbal additives in water. The performance of animals is significantly influenced by the state of health and safety of the animal. A weak or stressed immune system causes weight loss when dealing with infectious diseases, so the use of immune system stimulating substances can increase performance by improving the immune status. In raising poultry, it is important to strengthen the immune system to prevent the occurrence of diseases.
The results of this research showed that the commercial plant additives of Coxan, O.X. Plant, and Entex had no significant effect on growth performance, relative length and intestinal morphology. The population of opportunistic bacteria Escherichia coli was significantly reduced compared to the control group with the addition of O.X. Plant and Entex in the diet. In general, it can be concluded that adding tested herbal additives not only did not have a negative effect on the drinking water consumption of broiler chickens, but also using them in water improved the immune responses of broilers more than adding them in feed. A total of 336 Ross 308 broilers were examined in a completely randomized design with 7 treatments, 4 replications, and 12 chickens per replication. Experimental treatments included: control (without phytogenic in feed or water), Coxan in feed (300 mg/kg) and in water (200 mL/1000 L), O.X. Plant in feed (200 mg/kg) and in water (135 mL/1000 L) and Entex in feed (500 mg/kg) and water (350 mL/1000 L). Daily weight gain, daily feed intake, daily water intake and feed conversion ratio were measured. At 42 days of age, 2 birds were selected from each experimental unit and after slaughter, the length of the intestinal components was measured separately (duodenum, jejunum, ileum). In order to determine the microbial population, samples were taken from the ileum of chickens. EMB culture medium was used to determine Escherichia coli population and MRS culture medium was used for Lactobacillus bacteria. To check the humoral immune response, 0.1 ml of 25% sheep red blood cell solution in PBS was injected into the breast muscle of chickens on the 12th and 29th days of rearing. Blood was taken from the chickens on the 28th, 35th and 42nd days of breeding and the levels of Anti-SRBC, immunoglobulin G and M were calculated. Antibody titer against Newcastle disease was measured by HI method. The effect of additives in water and feed on average daily feed consumption, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and daily water consumption was not significant in the whole period. Since the amount of water consumed by the chickens did not change, it can be concluded that the additives added to the water in the examined amounts do not have a spicy or unpleasant taste that would cause the birds to refuse to drink water. The relative length of duodenum, jejunum, cecum and colon was not affected by experimental treatments. However, the relative length of the ileum was lower in the chickens that received Entex in the feed compared to the control group. No significant difference was observed in the relative length of different parts of the intestine in the treatments that received herbal additives either in feed or water. The relative length of duodenum, jejunum, cecum, and colon, villus length, villus area, crypt depth, thickness of lamina propria, thickness of muscular layer, thickness of advantis layer were not affected by the experimental treatments. The chickens that consumed 500 mg/kg of Entex herbal additive of feed had a lower villus width in the ileum region compared to the control group chickens. The population of Escherichia coli bacteria in the ileum of chickens that had received the addition of O.X. Plant and Entex in the feed decreased compared to the control group. The population of Escherichia coli bacteria in the Entex treatment in the feed was also reduced compared to the Coxan treatment in the feed. The population of Lactobacillus bacteria in the ileum of chickens that received Coxan in water, O.X. Plant in feed and water and Entex in feed increased compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in the population of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus bacteria in the treatments that received herbal additives either in feed or in water. The use of plant essential oils in poultry feed, while improving the microbial population by increasing the number of lactobacilli, by improving the morphological characteristics of the intestine, probably improves the ability of digestion and absorption in the digestive system and improves the growth efficiency of broiler chickens. Antibody levels against SRBC were higher at 28, 35 and 42 days in all chickens consuming herbal additives in water. The performance of animals is significantly influenced by the state of health and safety of the animal. A weak or stressed immune system causes weight loss when dealing with infectious diseases, so the use of immune system stimulating substances can increase performance by improving the immune status. In raising poultry, it is important to strengthen the immune system to prevent the occurrence of diseases. The results of this research showed that the commercial plant additives Coxan, O.X. Plant and Entex had no significant effect on growth performance, relative length and intestinal morphology. The population of opportunistic bacteria Escherichia coli was significantly reduced compared to the control group with the addition of O.X. Plant and Entex in the diet. In general, it can be concluded that adding tested herbal additives not only does not have a negative effect on the drinking water consumption of broiler chickens, but using them in water improves the immune responses of broilers more than adding them in feed.

Organic acids are one of the alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters. They have beneficial effects on poultry performance and gastrointestinal microbial balance. In general, the addition of organic acids to the diet lowers the pH of the diet and gastrointestinal tract, stimulates growth, helps to overcome the population of beneficial bacteria over pathogenic bacteria, and reduces toxic metabolites produced by harmful bacteria. The purpose of this study was to determine the antibacterial effects of encapsulated versus non-encapsulated organic acids (OA) supplementation in drinking water on intestinal microbiota and broilers' growth performance.
A total of 360-day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks were divided into six treatments, four replicates, and 15 chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design. The experimental treatments included: a negative control (without organic acids; OA, in drinking water), a positive control (200 mL of a commercial OA, acidifier 4+ in 1000 L drinking water), 500 and 1000 mL non-encapsulated blend of OA, and 500 and 1000 g encapsulated blend of OA in 1000 L drinking water. The blend of OA was composed of butyric, propionic, and acetic acids. Body weight and feed intake were measured weekly on a pen basis. From these data, average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily water intake (ADWI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated over the total rearing period. The European production efficiency factor (EPEF) was also calculated for the entire period of the trial. On day 42, gastrointestinal samples were collected from a total of 48 sacrificed birds (n = 12 birds from each experimental group) for pH and microflora analysis. Digesta from different sections of the gastrointestinal tract was collected and pH was measured using a digital pH meter. Total coliforms, lactobacilli, and Escherichia coli were counted in ileal digesta using a plate method with the use of a specific medium.
Broilers with an encapsulated blend of OA in drinking water had higher (P<0.05) body weight, ADG, and EPEF, and lower (P<0.05) FCR than the negative control. Broilers in the PC group and those with OA in their drinking water exhibited greater final BW, ADG, and FCR than those in the NC group (P<0.05) throughout the rearing period (0 to 21 d, 22 to 42 d, and 0 to 42 d). Organic acids can improve broilers' performance by inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the intestine. In the current study, administration of encapsulated OA in the drinking water of broilers resulted in lower (P<0.05) pH in jejunum when compared to the negative control. Dietary organic acids reduced the pH of different sections of the gastrointestinal tract of broilers compared to those fed the control diet. The administration of 500 g encapsulated or 1000 mL non-encapsulated blend of OA in the current study resulted in a lower count of E. coli compared with the negative control (P<0.05). The count of E. coli was linearly decreased (P<0.05) in the ileum of broilers with graded levels of the non-encapsulated blend of OA. It seems that the gizzard and stomach of birds drink acidified water were more acidic and might decrease the bacteria that were present in the gastrointestinal tract, especially in the lower gastrointestinal tract. Organic acids provide acidic pH in the gut, which increases beneficial bacteria, and decreases harmful bacteria of broilers.
Growth performance and the European production efficiency factor were generally greater with encapsulated OA compared with non-encapsulated one. Results of the current study showed that administration of 500 mg encapsulated blend of OA was sufficient for achieving the desired results.

The purpose of this trial was to investigate the effects of adding Spiralina platensis algae in layer diets on the performance, intestinal microflora and morphology, and some blood parameters. The recent trend in the feed business is currently directed toward the use of natural ingredients as alternativest antibiotics, synthetic colors, and other chemicals. Spirulina platensis algae is one of the high quality natural feed additives that can be used in animal and poultry nutrition. There are two different species of spirulina: Spirulina maxima and spirulina platensis, with varying distribution throughout the world (Oliveira et al, 1999). Spirulina maxima, contains high levels of vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and β- carotene, and up to 71% crude protein with sufficient concentrations of all essential amino acids except for the sulfur-containing ones (Becker, 2004). Spirulina platensis dried supplement has an excellent nutritional profile. It has increased level of protein with values ranged between 55- 65% and includes all of the essential amino acids, high carotenoids, and rich in minerals and vitamins (Ross and Dominy, 1990). Spirulina contains up to 20 percent of phycocyanin, a water-soluble blue pigment and green pigment chlorophyll a, and relatively high content of vitamin B12 (Ciferri and Tiboni, 1985). Spirulina platensis is the source of essential fatty acid, γ-linolenic acid (Abd El-Baky et al, 2003). Spirulina platensis also has minerals, magnesium, manganese, iron, calcium, chromium, copper, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc (Belay, 1997). The available energy content of Spirulina platensis has been determined to be 2.50-3.29 kcal/gr and its phosphorous availability is 41% (Yoshida and Hoshii, 1980).Verma et al (2004) reported that Spirulina platensis inclusion in broiler diet at 1 percent showed profound antioxidant effects in term of increased activity of erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes and decreased serum lipid peroxidation. Hens fed with diets supplemented with varying levels of Spirulina platensis tended to decrease the cholesterol content in the egg yolk of hens (Sakaida, 2003). The addition of 1.5 to 12% of spirulina platensis into the diets for broilers can replace other protein sources given to broiler, especially soybean meal, as the former shows satisfactory growth rates and feed efficiency (Nikodemusz et al, 2010).

A total of 192 LSL hens aged from 26 to 37 weeks were used in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 4 replicates and 12 hens per replicate. The treatments consisted of feeding a corn-soybean meal control diet alone or supplemented with 1.5, 3 or 4.5% Spirulina platensis. Cages were ventilated in a way that daily temperature was maintained between 21˚C and 23˚C. Each cage was equipped with feeder and drinker. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. A standard LSL diet was fed, containing (calculated): 17.6% CP, 0.42% Met, 0.82 Lys, 4.1% Ca, 0.6 Available P, and 2770 kcal ME/kg. During the experimental period, a 16-hour lighting schedule was applied. Performance including feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg production, and egg mass weekly were calculated over the period. After feeding the experimental diets for 12 weeks blood parameters included cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, and LDL were analyzed. In addition, villi height, crypt depth, villi height to crypt depth ratio, epithelium width and villi surface and also intestinal microflora (coliform, lactobacillus and total bacterial population) were measured. Statistical analysis used in this study was performed in completely randomized design using GLM procedure with SAS software and comparison of means by fisher's protected LSD test. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant, unless otherwise stated.

The results showed that experimental treatments had no significant effect on feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg production and egg mass. According to the present study, Zahroojian et al (2013) reported that egg qualitative and performance traits of laying hens were not affected by diets containing spirulina platensis. In contrast, Shanmugapriya et al (2015) reported that body weight gain and feed conversion ratio increased significantly by adding 1% spirulina platensis to the broiler diet compared to the control treatment. The reason for this discrepant is likely due to the inclusion of different levels of spirulina platensis and the age of the birds used (Bonos et al, 2016). Addition of spirulina platensis to the laying hens diet had no significant effect on cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL, but HDL levels was decreased significantly in third and fourth treatments (p < 0.05). Shanmugapriya et al (2015) reported that in broiler fed 1.5% spirulina platensis and saccharomyces cerevisiae, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels decreased but HDL levels increased compared to the control treatment. These results are inconsistent with the findings of the present study which may be due to the use of low levels of algae. In addition, the condition of cultivation and processing of algae that are effective in their composition may be another reason for this inconsistency (Gutierrez–Salmean et al, 2015). Experimental treatments had no significant effect on villi height, villi height to crypt depth ratio, villi surface and epithelium width, but the crypt depth was significantly increased in the fourth treatment (p < 0.05). The use of red seaweed algae in brown luhman laying hens diet increased the villi height and crypt depth compared to the control treatment (Kulshreshtha et al, 2014). Also, the use of different levels of spirulina platensis had no significant effect on coliforms, lactobacillus and total bacterial population.

The present findings show that, supplementation of Spiralina platensis by 4.5% in the diet, had no effect on performance of laying hens and high levels of that are likely to needed.

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of different inclusion levels of free and microencapsulated essential oil of Ajowan (EOA) herb in broilers diet on growth performance and some ileal bacteria population. A total of 320 one-day-old chicks were distributed in a completely randomized design with 2×4 factorial arrangement. The dietary factors were 2 different forms of EOA (free and encapsulated) and 4 dietary inclusion levels of EOA (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg). Growth performance parameters were recorded throughout the experiment, and intestinal organs weight and ileal microbial population were measured on 42 day of age. Broilers fed encapsulated EOA in diet had higher body weight gain and lower feed conversion ratio during 1 to 21 day of age than those fed free EOA (P<0.05). Higher relative weight of liver (% of live weight) was achieved in broilers fed diets supplemented with encapsulated EOA (P<0.05). There was a significant interaction between the form and dietary levels of EOA on E. coli count (P<0.05). As a general conclusion, use of encapsulated EOA led to an improvement in body weight gain, FCR, and European Production Index, in the first three weeks of growth and in the whole period of growth phase, respectively.

This study was conducted to detemine the effects of combination of Peppermint (Mentha peppirata L) or Thymus (Thymus vulgaris L) extracts on broiler performance, carcass characteristics and intestinal micro flora. This study designed based on a factorial (3×3) completely randomized design using 540 broiler chicken with 9 treatments, 3 replicate and 20 chickens per replicate. Experimental period considered to be 42 days and experimental diets were: control (without any supplement as basal diet), control with 0.1% Peppermint extract, 0.2% Peppermint extract, 0.1% Thymus extract, 0.2% Thymus extract, 0.1% Peppermint and 0.1% Thymus extracts, 0.1% Peppermint and 0.2% Thymus extracts, 0.2% Peppermint and 0.1% Thymus extracts, 0.2% Peppermint and 0.2% Thymus extracts respectively. Results showed that effects of Peppermint and/or Thymus extracts on feed consumption, body weight gain and feed conversion ration were not significant (P

This experiment was conducted using 240 one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308 strain) in a completely randomized design with 6 dietary treatments, each replicated 4 times with 10 birds/replicate. The dietary treatments were: 1, 2- diets without thyme extract (TE) with and without fat for the entire period of the experiment, 3, 4- diets with 0.5% TE with and without fat for the entire period of the experiment, and 5, 6- diets with 0.5% TE in last two weeks with and without fat. Weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR)) of chicks were measured as weekly basis. At day 42, two chicks were selected from each pen and slaughtered for microfloracount and thigh meat cholesterol measurement. Chicks fed diets supplemented with fat had higher body WG and FI, and lower FCR compared to diets without fat (P 0.05). As an overall conclusion, adding TE to the diets during the entire rearing period of the experimentled to significant reduction in thigh meat cholesterol in boiler chickens.

In order to study the effect of Satureja hortensis essence on productive performance and intestinal microflora of broilers, an experiment was performed with 192 day-old chicks. At 6 d, birds were split into 16 groups (12 chicks) included 4 group for each treatment. The amount of Zero (control), 50 ppm, 100 ppm and 150 ppm of Satureja hortensis essence were added to drinking water from 6 to 42 d. At 18, 28 and 38 d, a bird of each group were slaughtered and their ileosecalcontents were picked. CFU/g of Coliforms, E. coli and lactobacillus of samples were determined. Results indicated that control had the highest feed intakes (122.13), the lowest daily weight gain (60.36) and the highest feed conversion ratio (2.02; P<0.05). At 18, 28, and 38 d. the highest CFU/g of E.coli (6.36, 7.13 and 7.18, respectively) and the highest CFU/g of Coliforms (6.87, 7.37 and 7.44, respectively) were archived by control (P<0.05). CFU/g of lactobacillus was not affected by Satureja hortensis essence(P<0.05). The highest and lowest carcass ratio were obtained by Es150 and Es0, respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion, theaddition of Satureja hortensis essence to drinking water of broiler is improved productive performance and decreased E.coli and Coliforms in gut.