ORIGINAL PAPER
The effect of supplementing diets with dried fennel and thyme on the zootechnical parameters and caecal microflora of growing rabbit
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Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Faculty of Science and Technology, 416 Tangier, Morocco
Publication date: 2014-11-27
Corresponding author
A. Laglaoui
Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Faculty of Science and Technology, 416 Tangier, Morocco
J. Anim. Feed Sci. 2014;23(4):346-350
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fennel
and thyme dietary supplements on the feeding of rabbits. Eighty-five weaned
rabbits (35 days old), white New Zealand (of both sexes), were divided into
four groups and submitted to the following dietary treatments: Control diet, diet
F (Control diet + 2.5% Foeniculum vulgare seeds), diet T (Control diet + 2.5%
Thymus capitatus leaves) and diet FT (Control diet + 2.5% Foeniculum vulgare
seeds and Thymus capitatus leaves) for twenty-five days. The treatment with
fennel and thyme had a beneficial effect on the mortality rate (18%). However
the growth rate, feed conversion ratio and carcass yield were not influenced by
dietary fennel and/or thyme supplementation. The antimicrobial effect of thyme
(2.5%) was observed only against C. perfringens in the caecum (P < 0.05), but
no effect was observed on the caecal count of or C. perfringens in the other
treated groups.
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