Effects of plant essential oil on growth performance,serum immune indexes,and serum antioxidant indexes of calves

ZHU Yuan-fang; LI Wei; HAN Yong-sheng; SUN Fang; ZHANG Jian-sheng; WANG Yan-fei; YAO Mei-ling; LI Qing-ying

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2024.15.001

Abstract：The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of plant essential oils on the growth performance and serum indicators of Holstein calves.Sixty Holstein calves with the similar age and weight were selected and randomly divided into two groups:A control group(fed a concentrated feed)and a test group(fed a concentrated feed supplemented with 200 g/t of plant essential oils),with three replicates per group and ten calves per replicate.A preliminary trial was conducted for 7 days,followed by a formal experimental period of 30 days.The results showed that compared to the control group,the final weight and average daily weight gain of the calves in the test group increased(P＞0.05),and the body oblique length and chest circumference were significantly improved(P＜0.05).Compared to the control group,the serum urea nitrogen(BUN)content of calves in the test group was significantly reduced(P＜0.05),while the levels of immunoglobulin A(IgA)and immunoglobulin M(IgM)were significantly increased(P＜0.05).The total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC)was significantly enhanced(P＜0.05),and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA)was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).Compared to the control group,the incidence of diarrhea in the test group calves was reduced by 20％,and the mortality rate was reduced by 7％.The study indicates that under the conditions of this experiment,the addition of plant essential oils to the concentrated feed can improve the average daily weight gain and body size indicators of calves,enhance the immune system function,increase the antioxidant capacity,and reduce the incidence of diarrhea and mortality of calves.