Effects of compound essential oil and oregano oil on production performance, immunity and antioxidant capacity of meat rabbits

144 New Zealand weaned rabbits weighing (769.74 +/- 67.32 g) were randomly chosen and divided into 3 groups by single factor design: The control group, compound essential oil group and oregano oil group, with 16 replicates in each group and 3 rabbits in each replicate. Different groups were fed with basic diet, basic diet + 300mg/kg compound essential oil and basic diet thorn 300mg/kg oregano oil respectively. The pre-feeding period is 5 days and the formal period is 42 days. The test results are as follows:(1) The feed intake of the compound essential oil group was higher than that of the control group and oregano oil group (p<0.01), and the daily weight gain and feed/gain (F/G) ratio were not significantly different among the groups (p>0.05); (2) The diarrhoea index and frequency in the compound essential oil group and oregano oil group were respectively, lower than control group (p<0.01), and the mortality rate was 31.03% and 41.67% (p<0.05); (3) The content of immunoglobin G (IgG) in blood of compound essential oil group was 35.39% and 28.57% higher than that of the control group and oregano oil group (p<0.01), but there was no significant difference between immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) groups (p>0.05); (4) The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme in oregano oil group was significantly higher than that of the control group and the compound essential oil group (p<0.01). The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the compound essential oil group was 30.81% lower than control group (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the compound essential oil group and the oregano oil group. The contents of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC) were not significant differences among groups (p>0.05); (5) The economic benefits of the compound essential oil group and the oregano oil group were better than that of the control group. To sum up, both compound essential oil and oregano oil can not only improve the immunity and antioxidant capacity of weaned rabbits, but can also reduce the rate of diarrhoea and mortality as well as improve the economic benefits of farm animal.