Influence of some dry herbs as a dietary supplement on productivity, natural humoral immunity and oxidative status in broiler turkeys

Magdalena Oblakova, Galina Nikolova, Pavlina Hristakieva, Nadya Mincheva, Ivelina Ivanova, Yanka Karamalakova and Veselina Gadj

Abstract: The aim of the present work was to study the influence of dried herbs addition to feed: E1 – 1% Matricaria chamomilla;E2 – 1% Rosmarinus officinalis; E3 – 1% Lavandula angustifolia; E4 – 1% Origanum vulgare; E5 – 1% Thymus vulgaris; E6 – 1% Hypericum perforatum on productivity, health status and natural immunity in turkeys. A total of 105 one-day-old female broiler turkeys were weighed, marked, and divided into 7 groups of 15 turkeys (each of which included 3 replicates of 5 turkeys) – one control (C) and six experimental (E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6). The addition of these dried herbs to broiler turkey feed did not affect the final live weight at 126 days of age, the average daily gain, and the conversion of feed for the entire rearing period. This affects the values of the biochemical parameters of the blood, but the differences are not statistically significant. The studied parameters are variable and with insignificant differences between the different groups. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels decreased in the group with added 1% rosemary in the feed (P<0.01). The differences in the groups of the three liver enzymes ASAT (U/l), ALAT (U/l), GGT (U/l) were not statistically different. The alternative pathway for complement activation (APAC) had the highest activity in the group treated with thyme (E5) 718.94 (P<0.001). The activity of betalysine is the highest in the group E3- 17.04%, E4- 16.39%, and E6- 18.05% (P <0.001), and the lowest is in the group E1 -7.02% and C- 8.94%.

Keywords: betalysine; complement activity; herbs; lysozyme; oxidative status

Date published: 2022-08-19