Growth performance, ascites sensitivity, and ileal microbiota as affected by licorice essential oil in broiler chicken diets

Abstract

Abstract This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) essential oil (LEO) as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoter on growth performance, ileal microbial population, blood biochemical traits, and ascites sensitivity in broiler chickens. A total of 625 one-day-old broiler chickens were assigned to 5 dietary treatments, including control (un-supplemented basal diet), antibiotic (basal diet\xa0+\xa0150 mg avilamycin/kg), probiotic (basal diet\xa0+\xa0100\xa0mg probiotic/kg), basal diet\xa0+\xa0200\xa0mg LEO/kg, and basal diet\xa0+\xa0400\xa0mg LEO/kg, in a completely randomized design, with 5 replicates of 25 broiler chickens per pen. Dietary inclusion of 200\xa0mg LEO/kg increased feed intake compared to control and 400\xa0mg LEO/kg treatments (P