THE EFFECT OF OREGANO ESSENTIAL OIL (ORIGANUM VULGARE L) ON BROILER PERFORMANCE

Beneficial effects of botanical additives in farm animal may arise from activation on feed intake and digestive secretions, imune stimulation, antibacterial, coccidiostatical, antihelmintical, antiviral or antiinflamatory activity. This study was conducted in order to determine the use of oregano oil in broiler nutrition as a natural growth promoting substances instead of antibiotics. Different levels of oregano oil added to standard diet, to determine its effect on weight gain, daily weight gain, and feed conversion ratio compared to control group. Two hundred day-old broilers (Ross-308) were divided into groups of fifty chicken each, and randomly assigned to based diet. Experimental groups were as follow: LM control group without additive, L1 a 0.3% oregano oil group, L2 a 0.7% oregano oil group, L3 a 1% oregano oil group. The highest weight gain was observed on the L3 (2484 g), and followed by L2 (2463 g), L1 (2401 g) and LM (2365 g). The addition of oregano oil on the diets improved daily live weight by approximatley 1.5% (L1), 4.1% (L2) and 5% (L3) compared to the control group. As a general conclusion from all groups with oregano results were better than the group without, but the addition of 1% oregano oil to the diet improved feed conversion ratio by approximatley 4 % compared to the control group. In conclusion the results show that essential oil of Origanum vulgare L. culd be considered a potential natural growth promoter for poultry.