Abstract

Antibiotics such as avoparcin, bacitracin, lincomycin, penicillin-G -procaine, chlortetracycline and virginiamycin promote growth because of an effect on the microflorain the gastrointestinal tract. Throughout the world, the use of these antibiotics as dietary growth promoters in poultry diets differ dramatically. Sweden now allows no use of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes whereas the USA uses a wide range of antibiotics.Antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) have made a tremendous contribution to the profitability of the poultry industry. However, as a consequence of the increasing concern about the potential public health problems because of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, poultry nutritionists are being challenged to develop an alternative for AGP. If herbal alternative to AGP can be found, poultry nutritionists could formulate a ration that would meet the needs of the commercial broiler industry without using AGP. This study showed that herbal extracts, particularly a cinaamon extract, when added in the broiler diet, may have a similar effect as that of AGP. This study also showed that adding thyme in broiler diets may decrease body weight significantly compared to the diet with AGP, while not affecting the feed consumption. This result is helpful for further research on reducing body weight in the obese subjects.

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