The dietary supplement efficiency of essential oil of chive (Allium macrostemon) on the productivity and health performance of broilers
This experiment was conducted to study on the effect of chive essential oil (Allium macrostemon) (CEO) on the production and health of broilers. One-day old roosters (Ross 308) were allocated to 4 treatments with 3 replications (10 birds/replication). The experiment consisted of control group (CT) with a basal diet and T1, T2 and T3 groups with the supplement in the basal diet by levels of CEO at 100, 300 and 500 mg/kg respectively. In general, boilers supplemented with CEO had the better FCR compared to the CT. However, broilers in T2 group (300 mg/kg) showed the highest efficiency in terms of weight gain, FCR and PEI. In addition, the use of CEO in T2 and T3 group tended to reduce the incidence of respiratory and diarrhea syndrome in broilers by more than 50% of cases. It can be concluded that the supplement of CEO at the level of 300 mg/kg in the diet had improved the productive and health performance and may be a viable alternative to growth promoter in broiler production.