Table 6.
Effect of essential oil delivery route on broiler chicken intestinal morphology.
| Parameters | Treatments 1 | SEM 2 | p Value 3 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intestinal Segment (Measured in mm) |
Negative Control | In-Feed Antibiotics |
In-Water Essential Oil |
In Ovo Saline |
In Ovo Essential Oil |
In Ovo Essential Oil + In-Water Essential Oil |
|||
| Duodenum | |||||||||
| Villus Height | 1.56 b,c | 1.54 b,c | 1.53 b,c | 1.50 c | 1.63 a | 1.59 a,b | 0.01 | <0.001 | |
| Villus width | 0.15 a,b | 0.15 a,b | 0.15 a,b | 0.14 b | 0.17 a | 0.17 a,b | 0.00 | 0.010 | |
| Crypt depth | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.00 | 0.29 | |
| Villus height: Crypt depth | 10.96 | 10.66 | 11.69 | 10.90 | 11.48 | 11.64 | 0.18 | 0.307 | |
| Total mucosa thickness | 1.70 a,b,c | 1.68 b,c | 1.66 b,c | 1.63 c | 1.78 a | 1.73 a,b | 0.01 | <0.001 | |
| Jejunum | |||||||||
| Villus Height | 0.90 | 0.88 | 0.89 | 0.87 | 0.93 | 0.92 | 0.01 | 0.192 | |
| Villus width | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0.16 | 0.00 | 0.825 | |
| Crypt depth | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.14 | 0.00 | 0.431 | |
| Villus height: Crypt depth | 6.47 | 6.19 | 6.75 | 6.25 | 7.16 | 6.51 | 0.14 | 0.126 | |
| Total mucosa thickness | 1.05 | 1.03 | 1.02 | 1.02 | 1.07 | 1.07 | 0.01 | 0.240 | |
| Ileum | |||||||||
| Villus Height | 0.48 a | 0.45 a,b | 0.43 b | 0.45 a,b | 0.49 a | 0.46 a,b | 0.01 | <0.001 | |
| Villus width | 0.15 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.15 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.00 | 0.756 | |
| Crypt depth | 0.10 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.38 | 0.135 | |
| Villus height: Crypt depth | 4.91 | 4.24 | 4.72 | 4.77 | 4.84 | 4.80 | 0.09 | 0.147 | |
| Total mucosa thickness | 0.58 a,b | 0.57 a,b | 0.52 c | 0.54 b,c | 0.60 a | 0.56 a,b,c | 0.38 | <0.001 | |
1 Treatments include—(1) Negative control treatment- chicks fed a basal corn-soybean meal-wheat–based diet; (2) In-feed antibiotics- chicks fed NC + 0.05% bacitracin methylene disalicylate and (3) In-water essential oil- chicks supplied the essential oil via the water route at the recommended dosage of 250 mL/1000 L of drinking water; (4) In ovo saline treatment- eggs injected with 0.2 mL of physiological saline (0.9% NaCl); (5) In ovo essential oil treatment- eggs injected with 0.2 mL of a saline + essential oil blend mixture at a dilution ratio of 2:1, (6) In ovo + in-water essential oil treatment- chicks offered the essential oil blend via the in ovo and in water route, successively. 2 SEM = Standard error of means. 3 Means within a row with different superscripts a,b,c differ (p < 0.05).