Abstract
Like other creatures, the human life depends on the phenomena of surrounding environment and the medicinal herbs are always applied in the human and livestock and poultry's foods as well as the pharmaceutical industry in order to protect the health and treat the diseases. The impact of medicinal herbs on the livestock and poultry's performance, their characteristics and enhanced immunity can be measured and applied as well. In this regard, an experiment in the form of completely randomized design was conducted for investigating the impact of the mixture of medicinal herbs (Thyme, oregano, cumin, Alhagi, garlic and eucalyptus) in the diet on the performance, the quality of egg and the commercial laying hens' immune responses. The qualitative characteristics of egg including Haugh Unit, egg specific gravity, egg shell weight and shell thickness were measured and recorded at the end of each stage. The functional properties such as Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), production percentage, egg mass weight and feed intake were recorded and measured weekly and the egg weight two times a week. The obtained data analysis was done through the statistical software SPSS 20 and Duncan test was utilized in order to compare the average traits. Different levels of medicinal herbs had no impact on the improved Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), production percentage and egg mass weight in the whole period, but the medicinal herbs 2 and 3% significantly reduced the total feed intake and egg weight during the period compared to the control and probiotic treatment (p<0.05). The application of medicinal herbs at the level of 1% reduced the egg weight compared to the control treatment (p<0.05). There was no significant difference with the control treatment in any tested treatments in terms of qualitative characteristics of egg including the egg weight, shell weight, shell thickness, Haugh Unit, egg specific gravity, antibody titer against red blood cells, Lymphocytes, hematocrit, red blood cell volume, white blood cell count and serum cholesterol, but the experimental treatments reduced the red blood cells count, increased the yolk high cholesterol and decreased IgM and IgG.
Highlights
The livestock and poultry sector is significantly important in the economy of our country
The beneficial effects of medicinal herbs include stimulating the appetite and immune system, increasing the secretion of digestive enzymes and anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasitic and antioxidant activities. On this basis and according to the available hypotheses, this study investigates the effects of adding the mixture of medicinal herbs to the feed diet on the commercial laying hens' performance, the commercial laying hens' immune system responses and the qualitative characteristics of their egg
Orthogonal comparisons for performance of the entire course: The egg weight in the entire course and the feed intake were undergone several treatments (p
Summary
The livestock and poultry sector is significantly important in the economy of our country. The egg is as a high quality and inexpensive source of protein compared to other sources of animal protein from the products of poultry farming in our country and the important steps are always taken in order to enhance its production. The applied methods should lead to the produced high quality products, and they should be compatible with the strict and growing laws of food safety. Based on this viewpoint, the foods with the natural origins especially the medicinal and aromatic herbs containing the active biological components can make the favorable prospects (Ghorbani, 2006)
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