Essential Oils Blends for Small Ruminants: A Strategy for Enhanced Performance, Rumen Fermentation, Digestibility, and Profitability

Abdelfarrag, Mahmoud M.; Khattab, Hamdy M.; Khorshed, Mahmoud Mohamed; Singer, Abdalla Mansour

doi:10.21608/aujst.2025.435514

Essential Oils Blends for Small Ruminants: A Strategy for Enhanced Performance, Rumen Fermentation, Digestibility, and Profitability

Document Type : Original papers

Authors

¹ Animal and Poultry Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Aswan University, Egypt

² Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Egypt.

³ Animal Production,Faculty of Agriculture,Ain Shams university,Egypt.

⁴ Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Aswan University, Department of Animal and poultry production

10.21608/aujst.2025.435514

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the influence of dietary supply with two novel blends of essential oils on key performance indicators, including feed intake, rumen parameters, nutrient digestibility, growth performance, and profitability of Saidi lambs. The first supplement incorporated a 1:1:1 Rosemary, Thyme, and Peppermint mixture oils (RTPOM). The second supplement incorporated a 1:1:1 Lemongrass, Marjoram, and Black Seed oils mixture (LMBOM). The 1^st group (5 lambs) was administered a control diet devoid of essential oil blends supply (concentrate feed mixture to roughage ratio of 70:30); the 2^nd group (5 lambs) was administered a control diet supplemented with 0.03% RTPOM on a DM basis; and the 3^rd group administered a control diet supplemented with 0.03% LMBOM on a DM basis. The experiment lasted 180 days. The findings highlight that RTPOM had lowered DMI (P < 0.0001), while the LMBOM had higher DMI than the control. The RTPOM or LMBOM dietary supply did not significantly affect ruminal pH, temperature, or ammonia-N. In contrast, total volatile fatty acid and total nitrogen were significantly higher for RTPOM and LMBOM than for the control. Similarly, the crude protein digestibility and digestible crude protein values of the lambs receiving RTPOM or LMBOM were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than the control. The average daily gain and feed conversion ratio of the lambs receiving both RTPOM and LMBOM dietary supply were higher than the control diet. Additionally, profitability by economic efficiency was enhanced by the RTPOM supplementation compared to LMBOM and the control diet.

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