Effects of compound essential oil and oregano oil on production performance, immunity and antioxidant capacity of meat rabbits

Abstract

144 New Zealand weaned rabbits weighing (769.74 ± 67.32 g) were randomly chosen and divided into 3 groups by single factor design: The control group, compound essential oil group and oregano oil group, with 16 replicates in each group and 3 rabbits in each replicate. Different groups were fed with basic diet, basic diet + 300 mg/kg compound essential oil and basic diet + 300 mg/kg oregano oil respectively. The pre-feeding period is 5 days and the formal period is 42 days. The test results are as follows:(1) The feed intake of the compound essential oil group was higher than that of the control group and oregano oil group (p 0.05); (2) The diarrhoea index and frequency in the compound essential oil group and oregano oil group were respectively, lower than control group (p 0.05); (4) The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme in oregano oil group was significantly higher than that of the control group and the compound essential oil group (p 0.05); (5) The economic benefits of the compound essential oil group and the oregano oil group were better than that of the control group. To sum up, both compound essential oil and oregano oil can not only improve the immunity and antioxidant capacity of weaned rabbits, but can also reduce the rate of diarrhoea and mortality as well as improve the economic benefits of farm animal.

Keywords

• meat rabbits
• production performance
• immunity
• oxidation resistance