Effect of Thyme and/or Formic Acid Dietary Supplementation on Broiler Performance and Immunity

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of thyme, formic acid (FA) and thyme plus formic acid in broiler ration on performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical parameters, intestinal microbial load, and histological picture of intestine as well as immunity parameters of broilers. A number of 480-day old broiler chicks were divided into 4 groups with three replicates of 40 chicks each. Experimental groups included T1, control group with no thyme or formic acid supplementation, T2 group which was fed on basal diet supplemented with thyme (1g/kg diet), T3 group received the basal diet supplemented with formic acid (5g/kg) and T4 group was fed on basal diet supplemented with thyme (1g/kg) plus formic acid (5g /kg). The results showed that the use of thyme or formic acid or formic plus thyme had significant effects on growth performance and carcass traits of broilers (P<0.05). The highest % of breast and thigh was observed in group T4, while an improvement in villus height was observed in all supplemented groups compared to control group but the highest was observed in T4. It is concluded that using of thyme or formic acid in broiler feeds have significant effects on performance and immunity parameters. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.