Water is sometimes the ‘forgotten’ nutrient on animal production sites. Considering the great amount of water these animals require to drink in order to achieve their optimal performance in terms of feed conversion, daily gain, health level etc., the water-intake will have a great impact on that performance. Increasing the quality of drinking water should be a standard operation on every poultry farm in order to improve the health and performance of the animals.
As an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP’s), there are currently different all-natural products emerging on the market that have the potential to increase the efficiency of poultry production. Essential oils are a type of these natural products. Essential oils are compounds that give plants and spices their color and scent. Many essential oils have antifungal, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties that are used to protect their plant of origin. The antibacterial properties of many essential oils present in cinnamon, garlic, oregano and other plants have been known for years, and these oils have been used to flavour and preserve foods.
Essential oils have been shown to be effective in enhancing animal growth performance and carcassquality of broiler chickens. Birds fed with an essential oils diet had a significantly (P<0.02) better feed conversion rate throughout the production cycle. Furthermore the essential oils blend fed test groups showed the most positive effect on breast weight performance compared to the control group.
Therefore, they represent an exciting opportunity for poultry producers to improve bird performance using an all-natural approach.
Back to the essence
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Based on natural concentrated essential oils, vitamin E and Selenium
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Enhances the feed intake and helps to relieve heat stress
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Positive influence on the respiratory tract
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Stimulates the intestinal health and the immune system