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Effects of herbal essential oil mixture as a dietary supplement on egg production in quail.

ABSTRACT: One hundred and eighty 7-week-old laying quail were fed various diets over a 12-week period. The diets included a control diet (without essential oil mixture (EOM) or antibiotics (ANTs)), a basal diet including EOM (24 mg/kg feed), and a basal diet including an ANT (avilamycin, 10 mg/kg feed). Each treatment comprised 4 replications with 4 cages (15 quail per cage), amounting to 60 quail per treatment group. Diets (in mash form) and water were provided for ad libitum consumption. EOM consisted of 6 different essential oils derived from the following herbs: oregano (Origanum sp.), laurel leaf (Laurus nobilis L.), sage leaf (Salvia triloba L.), myrtle leaf (Myrtus communis), fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare), and citrus peel (Citrus sp.). In comparison with the control diet, adding supplements such as EOM and ANTs to the basal diet increased egg production in quail (P < 0.001). However, egg production was similar between EOM and ANT treatment groups. Moreover, there were no differences between the treatment groups with regard to egg weight. Feed intake was not affected by EOM or ANT supplementation, whereas feed conversion ratio was significantly improved by EOM and ANT supplementation. Thus, we concluded that EOM has beneficial effects as a dietary supplement on egg production and feed conversion ratio.

SUBMITTER: Cabuk M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3921972 | biostudies-other | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Weaning stress decreases the growth performance of piglets and is one of the main concerns of pig industries. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have been used to reduce the adverse effects of weaning stress as both nutritional supplements and antibiotic substitutes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a Chinese herbal mixture (Kangtaile, which contained Paeonia lactiflora, licorice, dandelion, and tea polyphenols) on the growth performances, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of weaned pigs. A total of 400 weaned pigs [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire)] were randomly allocated into one of four treatments: the CON group, fed with basic diet; the HM1 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 0.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet; the HM2 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.0 g herbal mixture/kg diet; or the HM3 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet. The results revealed that dietary supplementation with the herbal mixture for 28 days improved average daily gain and feed conversion ratio, while decreased the diarrhea rate of weaned pigs. Moreover, dietary supple-mentation with the herbal mixture improved the antioxidant capacity through increasing the activity of catalase (CAT) and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) level, while decreasing the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum. Pigs supplemented with herbal mixture presented an increased serum immunoglobulin (Ig)M level on day 14 compared with control pigs. The herbal mixture altered the composition of intestinal microbiota by influencing the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes at the phylum level. The relative abundances of the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were significantly related to the body weight gain of pigs. In conclusion, supplementation of herbal mixture to the diet improved growth performance, immunity, and antioxidant capacity and modified the composition of intestinal microbiota in weaning pigs. This study provided new insights into the nutritional regulation effects of the herbal mixtures on weaned pigs.

Project description:The present work was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary propolis supplementation to laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on egg production, egg quality, physiological and immunological aspects under heat stress conditions. A total of 200, 21-day-old, Japanese quail females were distributed equally into standard wired cages in two identical environmentally-controlled rooms (10 cages per room, 10 birds per cage). From 29-70 d of age, the quail birds in the first room remained at a normal temperature of 24°C (C group), whereas the quail birds in the second room were kept under heat stress at 35°C (HS group). Each group was further assigned to 2 propolis subgroups (5 cages per subgroup); one of them received a basal diet without propolis supplementation (-PR subgroup), while, the other received 1 g propolis/ kg basal diet (+PR subgroup). In the present study, performance and egg production of laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) impaired by HS treatment and improved by the PR treatment. Similarly, the negative and positive effects of HS and PR, respectively, were appeared on the egg shell thickness and yolk index. Stress indicators in laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) increased by HS, while, PR significantly (P<0.05) moderated these levels in the HS+PR group when compared to the HS-PR quail group. In addition to the positive impact of PR on the plasma levels of calcium, phosphorus, and albumin, it also normalized the plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase and cholesterol in the heat-stressed quail birds. Moreover, the quail birds in the HS groups expressed lower immunological aspects than those in the C group, while, the addition of propolis to the diets enhanced the immune status of laying quail birds under HS conditions. These results strongly suggest that dietary propolis supplementation could be a successful attempt to maintain the performance and egg production of laying Japanese quail at convenient levels under heat stress conditions.

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Effects of herbal essential oil mixture as a dietary supplement on egg production in quail.

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