A feed additive made with citrus essential oils could mitigate the effects of stress in the poultry brain, improving animal health and welfare.
“We know that there are some unavoidable stressors on the farm,” Stephanie Cottee, animal welfare manager, Probiotech International, said
These can include transitions in housing and feed, aggression or social stress within the flock, handling and heat stress.
Adding citrus essential oils to feed or water could help mitigate a bird’s response to these stressors, preliminary research claims. It could help poultry better adapt to changes in its environment, decrease abnormal behaviors like cannibalism and support feed intake during chronic stress periods due to weather or changes in bird density.
How it works
Citrus essential oils have anxiolytic or anxiety-reducing properties. This is achieved by helping to maintain the levels of tryptophan, a precursor to serotonin, in the brain.
Increased serotonin levels directly correlate to thermoregulation and the regulation of stress, anxiety and feeding behaviors in poultry and other animals, increasing feelings of calmness, stabilizing mood and reducing fearfulness and anxiety behaviors.
“At the neuroanatomical level, we know that citrus essential oils show the ability to attenuate or dampen some of the hyperactivity of certain brain regions due to stress,” explained Cottee.
“The important thing about the additive is that animals must be able to smell or taste it,” she added, noting that this helps demonstrate that citrus essential oils have a neurosensory effect, rather than an impact on the poultry gut.
The additive works quickly, with behavioral changes occurring within three to five days after citrus essential oils are first given to the birds. In addition, there is no withdrawal period for citrus essential oils. It can be used until the day of slaughter.
The majority of research into citrus essential oils has been conducted in laboratory rats and mice, however, in early poultry trials, citrus essential oils increased the eye surface temperature of broilers raised in high density houses. An increase in eye surface temperature is correlated with a reduction in stress.
