The Effects of Supplementing Whole Milk with Juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus) Aromatic Water on Growth and General Health Parameters of Holstein Calves

Abstract

In newborn calves, resistance to diseases is low due to insufficient immune system. Antibiotic treatments applied during this period reduce the numbers of pathogens and also non-pathogenic bacteria. This causes the growth to stop or decline in the early period and therefore it causes economic losses (Soltan, 2009). The restriction and/or prohibition of the use of antibiotics in livestock have increased the interest in medicinal aromatic plants in recent years (Anadon, 2006). The juniper, which is the subject of our study, has an important place in medicine manufacturing industry in Europe and many countries of the world because of its pharmacological properties medicine, due to and the extractive substances it contains. The juniper has been used as wood and material for making medicine from its fruits and leaves for many years in Anatolian geography as well as over the world. Medicines have been prepared from fruits and leaves for curing pain, cough, rheumatism, tuberculosis and it has also been used as antibacterial (Tumen and Hafizoglu, 2003). It has been determined that the JOW has selective antibacterial properties, also show antioxidant and iron-reducing properties depending on the concentration used (Isik et al., 2020). There are a few studies on the use of aromatic waters, a by-product of extracting plant extracts, in animal nutrition and breeding and their health effects. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of aromatic water, which is produced as a by-product and has no economic value, on the healthy growth of calves while extracting oil from juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus) fruits and leaves.