Saki et al., 2014
113
Poultry Science Journal ISSN: 2345-6604 (Print), 2345-6566 (Online) http://psj.gau.ac.ir
Effects of Drinking Thyme Essence (Thymus vulgaris L.) on Growth Performance, Immune Response and Intestinal Selected Bacterial Population in Broiler Chickens Saki AA, Kalantar M & Khoramabadi V Department of Animal Science, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran. Poultry Science Journal 2014, 2 (2): 113-123
Abstract Article history: Received: August 5, 2014 Revised: September 9, 2014 Accepted: September 14, 2014
Corresponding author: Ali Asghar Saki, Ph.D
[email protected]
Keywords: Broiler Immune Performance Thyme essence Bacterial population
This study evaluated the effects of Drinking Thyme Essence (DTE) (Zero, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 mL/L) on growth performance, immune response and changing of intestinal bacterial population in broiler chickens. A total number of 500 day old male broiler chicks (Ross 308), were randomly assigned to 4 treatments with 5 replicates and 25 chickens per each, based on a completely randomized design (CRD). Growth performances were assessed during the range of 8-21, 22-42 and 8-42 d. At 21 and 42 d blood serum titers including: Newcastle Disease (ND), Avian Influenza (AI), Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) and Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) were sampled. Bacterial populations in intestinal digesta were determined at the age of 21 and 42 d. DTE levels significantly (P
