| Summary: | 碩士 === 東海大學 === 畜產與生物科技學系 === 103 === Two trials were conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of different essential oil on daily feed intake, nutrient digestibility and intestinal microflora of broiler chickens. In trial 1, thirty 17-d-old Arbor Acres chicks were allotted to 5 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment. Chicks were reared in individual cages and fed diets without or with supplementing 200 ppm of different essential oil: (1) thyme (T); (2) cinnamon (C); (3) oregano (O) and (4) rosemary (R) for 20 days. In trial 2, thirty 27-d-old Ross chicks were allotted to 5 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment. Chicks were reared in individual cages and fed same diets as in trial 1 for 18 days. Daily feed intake, nutrient digestibility, pH and microbial counts of digestive tract contents were measured in trial 1 and 2. The combined results showed that dietary supplementation of R numerically improved daily feed intake. Supplementing different essential oil in diet improved fecal and ileal digestibility of total fatty acid and saturated fatty acid (P＜0.01). Supplementing T, C and R in diet significantly improved fecal and ileal digestibility of protein and unsaturated fatty acid (P＜0.05). Supplementing T, O and R in diet improved caecum lactobacillus counts (P＜0.05). Supplementing C and R in diet increased caecum lactobacillus/coliforms (P＜0.05). Supplementing different essential oil in diet did not affect pH of digestive tract contents, coliforms and lactobacillus+coliforms counts. In conclusion, supplementing EO, especially C and R, in diet effectively improved caecal microbial environment and nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens.
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