Dietary concoction of formic acid and thymol and its effects on zoo-technical performance, immunity, jejunal architecture and gut health in Turkey

Abstract

With increasing demand for improved protein-rich food, diverse poultry birds like turkey are gaining popularity in India. However, with the rising concerns of antibiotic residues and drug resistance, safe alternatives like formic acid (FA) and thymol (TH) have attracted the attention of researchers as effective replacer of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP). This experiment investigated the effects of combinations of FA and TH on growth performance, immunity, gut microflora and jejunal microstructures in turkey. A total of 240 turkey poults were reared in 6 treatment groups for a period of 16 weeks with standard management and feeding: T1 (basal diet only); T2 (AGP); T3 ([email protected] ml + TH@240 mg/kg); T4 ([email protected] ml + TH@360 mg/kg); T5 ([email protected] ml + TH@240 mg/kg) and T6 ([email protected] ml + TH@360 mg/kg). The results revealed that T5 group had the highest final body weight and best FCR while the feed consumption across the groups was comparable. The immune status of the turkey improved (p ≤ 0.05) in treatment groups compared to control with T4 and T5 group showcasing the best CBH response, antibody titres and relative immune organ weight index. A significant improvement (p ≤ 0.05) in jejunal microstructures was observed at 16th week in T5 group over control and AGP fed group. There was significant (p ≤ 0.001) reduction in total plate and coliform counts, but a positive shift was seen in Lactobacillus population in T5 group as compared to control and AGP fed group. In conclusion, the concoction of formic acid (7.5 ml/kg) + thymol (240 mg/kg) in-feed supplement improved the performance, immune status and gut health in turkey as an efficient alternative to AGPs.