The effect of supplementing diets with dried fennel and thyme on the zootechnical parameters and caecal microflora of growing rabbit

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fennel and thyme dietary supplements on the feeding of rabbits. Eighty-five weaned rabbits (35 days old), white New Zealand (of both sexes), were divided into four groups and submitted to the following dietary treatments: Control diet, diet F (Control diet + 2.5% Foeniculum vulgare seeds), diet T (Control diet + 2.5% Thymus capitatus leaves) and diet FT (Control diet + 2.5% Foeniculum vulgare seeds and Thymus capitatus leaves) for twenty-five days. The treatment with fennel and thyme had a beneficial effect on the mortality rate (18%). However the growth rate, feed conversion ratio and carcass yield were not influenced by dietary fennel and/or thyme supplementation. The antimicrobial effect of thyme (2.5%) was observed only against C. perfringens in the caecum (P < 0.05), but no effect was observed on the caecal count of or C. perfringens in the other treated groups.