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Single and combined effects of vitamin C and oregano essential oil in diet, on growth performance, and blood parameters of broiler chicks reared under heat stress condition

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Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding vitamin C (VC), oregano essential oil (OR), or their combination in diet, on growth performance, and blood parameters of broiler chicks reared under heat stress (HS) condition (38 °C). One-day-old 240 male broilers were randomly assigned to four treatment groups, six replicates of ten birds each. The birds were fed with either a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with either 200 mg L-ascorbic acid/kg of diet, 250 mg of oregano essential oil/kg of diet, or 200 mg L-ascorbic acid plus 250 mg of oregano essential oil/kg of diet. Average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were obtained for 42 days of age and at the end of the experiment (day 42); birds were bled to determine some blood parameters and weighted for final body weight (BW). Feeding birds with diets supplemented with oregano essential oil and vitamin C in a single or combined form increased ADG (P > 0.05). Also BW increased and feed efficiency decreased (P < 0.05) in the birds fed with diets including VC and OR (in a single or combined form), compared to those fed the basal diet. ADFI was not significantly influenced by dietary oregano essential oil and vitamin C (P > 0.05). Supplemental oregano essential oil and vitamin C in a combined form decreased the serum concentration of corticosterone, triglycerides, glucose, and MDA (P < 0.05) compared with other groups. An increase in the serum concentrations of vitamin C were seen in broiler chicks supplemented with vitamin C. From the results of the present experiment, it can be concluded that diet supplementation by combined oregano essential oil and vitamin C could have beneficial effects on some blood parameters of broiler chicks reared under heat stress condition.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Razi University, Imam Avenue, Kermanshah, 6715685418, Iran

    Shahab Ghazi, Tahere Amjadian & Shokufeh Norouzi

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  1. Shahab Ghazi
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  2. Tahere Amjadian
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  3. Shokufeh Norouzi
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Correspondence to Tahere Amjadian.

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Ghazi, S., Amjadian, T. & Norouzi, S. Single and combined effects of vitamin C and oregano essential oil in diet, on growth performance, and blood parameters of broiler chicks reared under heat stress condition. Int J Biometeorol 59, 1019–1024 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-014-0915-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-014-0915-4

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