The present study investigated the effects of essential oil mixture (EOM) supplementation without or with sodium butyrate (SB) on growth, blood biochemistry, nutrient digestibility, intestinal microbiology, and morphology of broilers. Birds were randomly distributed into eight groups: G1; as control; G2 and G3 were supplemented with EOM 72 and 144 mg/L respectively in water, G4 was supplemented with 20 mg EOM /kg diet, while groups 5-8 have the same design but combined with SB (750 mg/kg diet). The addition of EOM in water without or with SB non-significantly (P> 0.05) increased body weight. The lower level of EOM reduced feed intake, while supplementation in feed (20 mg /kg) or water (144 mg/l) increased it compared with control. This result was reversed when added with dietary SB. Nutrients digestibility including crude protein, ether extract, inorganic matter, Ca, and P was improved with EOM especially lower-level added in water or feed. The same response was obtained when EOM combined with EOM especially inorganic matter. Intestinal villi length was increased with EOM supplementation without or with dietary SB. The total bacterial count of ileocecal content was reduced with SB or EOM supplementation in water. Combination of SB with EOM through water improved lactobacillus proliferation in the intestine. EOM supplementation numerically decreased blood serum triglyceride and total cholesterol concentrations while SB had no clear effect on them. EOM without or with SB decreased LDL and improved HDL concentrations. It could be summarized that EOM administration in water at 72 mg/L or feed (20 mg/Kg) improved performance, increased villi length, and lactobacillus counts. Sodium butyrate combination with EOM (lower dose) in water is considered more effective than supplementation alone.
Key words: Essential oil, Organic acids, Broiler, Growth.
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