Ayesha Masood¹, Anas Sarwar Qureshi²*, Rehmat Ullah Shahid² and Huma Jamil³

The current study was performed to evaluate the potential effects of essential oil (MIX OIL^®) on growth and histomorphometry of intestine in Japanese quail. The Mix Oil^® is available as commercial product (Animal Wellness Product, Italy) which is a blend of different essential oils. This product contains eucalyptus oil, thyme oil, rosemary oil, savory oil, lemon oil, garlic oil, citric acid and oregano oil. A total of one hundred day-old quail chicks were purchased from a local hatchery. Birds were placed at temperature-controlled sheds at quail farm. The birds were separated randomly into four groups (A, B, C and D) containing 25 birds each. Birds were offered commercial basal corn-based diet and offered three different graded concentrations of Mix Oil^®_. Group-A was control while group B, C and D contain 0.33ml/2 liter of water 0.15%, 0.5ml/2 liter of water 0.25%, 1ml/2 liter of water 0.5%, respectively. On day 35, all birds were slaughtered and the samples of intestines were excised and prepared for histological studies. The significant differences (P<0.05) in body weight of birds, weight gain of quails and feed conversion ratio was recorded. Among the histomorphometric parameters of intestine, there was an increase observed in villus height and significant change in number of goblet cells among all treated groups. In conclusion, essential oil (MIX OIL^®) was proved to be a potent growth promoter. The intestinal health was also improved by giving essential oil (MIX OIL^®) that resulted in better growth in Japanese quails.

To Cite This Article: Masood A, Qureshi AS, Shahid RU and Jamil H, 2020. Effects of oral administration of essential oil (Mix Oil^®) on growth performance and intestinal morphometry of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Pak Vet J, 40(3): 385-389. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2020.018