Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXI, Issue 1
Written by Raluca Paula TURCU, Cristina TABUC, Petru Alexandru VLAICU, Tatiana Dumitra PANAITE, Mihaela BULEANDRA, Mihaela SARACILA
An experiment on 90, COBB 500 broiler chicks (14-42 days), reared under heat stress, evaluated the effect of the dietary oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) powder and oil, on the balance of the intestinal microflora of broilers. The broilers, assigned to three groups (C, E1, E2), were housed in an experimental hall with 32°C constant temperature, humidity 36% and 23 h light regimen. The conventional diet C included monensin in the premix for the grower phase (14-35 days). Unlike the control group, the diet for the experimental groups included 0.01% oregano oil (E1), or 0.005% oregano oil plus 1% oregano powder (E2). Six broilers/ group were slaughtered in the end of the experiment (42 days), and samples of cecal and intestinal content were collected for bacteriological examination. The experimental results showed that the total Enterobacteriaceae, E. coli and Staphylococcus count was significantly (P≤ 0.05) lower both in the cecal microbiota and in the intestinal microbiota of the experimental groups than in group C, while the lactobacilli count was significantly (P≤ 0.05) higher in groups E1 and E2 than in group C.
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