Abstract
Abstract This study examined the effects of feeding two different commercially available blends of essential oils with or without benzoic acid on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of finishing steers. Angus-based crossbred steers (N = 76; allocation BW = 429 ± 30 kg; starting BW = 466 kg ± 31 kg) were assigned by allocation weight into two blocks. Within each block, steers were randomly assigned to one of seven dietary treatments for a 100 d finishing period. Treatments were: 1) a negative control with no additives; 2) a positive control with supplementation of monensin/tylosin; 3) essential oil blend #1 (Victus Liv, DSM Nutritional Products); 4) essential oil blend #2 (Fortissa Fit 45, Provimi Canada); 5) benzoic acid (VevoVitall, DSM Nutritional Products); 6) a combination of essential oil blend #1 and benzoic acid; and 7) a combination of essential oil blend #2 and benzoic acid. All feed additives were supplemented at dosage levels according to manufacturer instructions. Growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality were evaluated. Individual animal feed intake was collected using an Insentec feeding system, therefore steer was the experimental unit for all analyses. Data were analyzed using a RCBD with fixed effect of treatment and random effect of block. Final BW, ADG, DMI, and G:F were similar (P > 0.25) among treatments. There were no treatment differences (P > 0.15) for the carcass characteristics or the meat quality parameters evaluated in this study. Overall, steers supplemented with the commercial blends of essential oils with or without benzoic acid had similar growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality parameters as steers fed CON or M/T, indicating that these products may have potential as replacements for monensin and/or tylosin.
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