Productive parameters, cecal microflora, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant status, and thigh muscle fatty acid in chicks fed with Eucalyptus globulus essential oil

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different dietary inclusion of eucalyptus essential oil (EEO) on growth performance, relative organ weight, cecal microflora, nutrient digestibility, serum biochemical parameters, and thigh muscle fatty acid profile in broiler chickens. A total of 600 one-day-old male broiler chickens were randomly allocated into five treatment groups with eight replicate pens, and each pen contained 15 birds. The experiment lasted for 42 days. Dietary treatments included corn-soybean meal-based diet supplemented with 0, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 mg/kg EEO. The results indicated that dietary treatments no effect on growth performance in the 1 to 10 day period. From day 11 to 24, dietary supplementation of EEO showed a linear decrease in feed conversion ratio (FCR: P