Investigation of nutritional characteristics of thymus plant (Thymus spp.) in livestock and poultry

Animal husbandry is an integral part of agriculture and has a great impact on the national economy. Livestock production is affected by many external and internal factors, and nutrition is an important part of it. Rising prices for agricultural products and feed costs for farm animals have increased the problems of this part of agriculture, and recently studies have focused on new plant-based alternative foods to solve this problem. Medicinal plants are a plausible alternative as they improve a number of vital processes in the animal body. For animal nutritionists, an eco-friendly alternative to enhance production, prevent and treat disease conditions of animal is a great challenge. Keeping livestock healthy is important to achive healthy animal products. The use of natural product like herbs, and medicinal plants are preferred over chemical compounds for improvement of overall animal health and to satisfy consumer concerns as well. Phytogenic additives and their products have a major impact on feed intake, growth, meat, milk and egg production. They also have known to increase the quality and stability of animal products.The advantage of phytogenic complements with active materials in animal nutrition could include the stimulation of appetite and feed intake, improvement of endogenous digestive enzyme secretion, activation of immune response and antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant and antihelminthic actions. The purpose of this article is to investigate the effectiveness, mode of action and commercial application of thymus as a plant feed additive in animal feed.