Effect of adding commercial phytogenics of Coxan, O.X. Plant, and Entex in feed and water on growth performance, intestinal morphology and microflora, and immune response of broilers

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.