Effects of fish oil and thyme essence on performance, digestibility, and carcass characteristics of Dalagh male lambs

In recent years, the use of antibiotics, as additives in food products because of their potential sustainability in animal and human tissues, has been declared illegal. Therefore, scientists are interested in using essential oil essence with potential antimicrobial activity and improvement in rumen digestion. The use of essential oils improves the digestibility and rumen ecology. The uses of fish oil in feed for livestock have been considered in previous years. The uses of fish oil are limited due to flavoring effects on animal products. Fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid fish oil is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore, supplementing fish oil to the diet of ruminants, increased concentrations of these fatty acids in milk and meat that would be very useful for human health. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of fish oil and thyme essence on performance, digestibility, and carcass characteristics of Dalagh male lambs.
Sixteen Dalagh male lambs fattened with an average weight of 27±2 kg in a completely randomized design with four treatments and four replications over 90 days. Experimental treatments included: 1- control diet based on barley grain and corn silage without fish oil and thyme extract, 2- diet supplemented with 2% fish oil (DM basis), 3- diet supplemented with 2% fish oil and 0.2% thyme extract (DM basis) and 4- diet supplemented with 0.2% thyme extract.
Sheep Final weight was significantly highest in three treatments than other treatments (P Results of the current experiment shows that fish oil in 2% of dry matter had most negative effects on nutrient digestibility of total mixed ration (P