{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T01:13:12Z","timestamp":1791594792224,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,6]],"date-time":"2020-03-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1583452800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The goal of the trial was testing the effects of a blend of organic acids and essential oils dietary supplementation on growth performance and gut healthiness in broiler chickens. In total, 420 male Ross 308 chicks (1-day old) were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments: basal (BD) and organic acids and essential oils (OA&amp;EO) diets (three replicates\/treatment; 70 broilers\/replicate). BD group received commercial diets whereas OA&amp;EO group basal diets + 5 g\/kg of microencapsulated organic acids and essential oils. OA&amp;EO treatment improved the average daily gain (p &lt; 0.01) and feed conversion ratio at 37\u201347 days compared to BD treatment. OA&amp;EO treatment improved gut morphology mostly at ileum and duodenum levels in terms of villi height, crypt depth, number of villi, mucosa thickness and villi area at 24 and 34 sampling days. A certain selective action against Clostridium perfringens in ileum of OA&amp;EO group was shown at 33 (p = 0.053) and 46 days (p = 0.09) together with lower median values for Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococci, Mesophilic bacteria and Clostridium perfringens at ceca level. Overall, organic acids and essential oils supplementation improved growth performance in the final growth stage and some morphological gut traits and reduced to a certain extent Clostridium perfringens count in ileum.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani10030442","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,6]],"date-time":"2020-03-06T09:26:41Z","timestamp":1583486801000},"page":"442","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":43,"title":["Effects of Microencapsulated Blends of Organics Acids (OA) and Essential Oils (EO) as a Feed Additive for Broiler Chicken. A Focus on Growth Performance, Gut Morphology and Microbiology"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7065-1501","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Stamilla","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A), University of Catania, Via Valdisavoia, 5, 95123 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2507-559X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonino","family":"Messina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DVM consultant poultry specialists, via Cava Gucciardo Pirato, 12, 97015 Modica, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sabrina","family":"Sallemi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DVM consultant poultry specialists, via Alcide de Gasperi, 106, 97013 Comiso, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucia","family":"Condorelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia; Via Gino Marinuzzi, 3, 90129 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Antoci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia; Via Gino Marinuzzi, 3, 90129 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3461-3353","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberto","family":"Puleio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia; Via Gino Marinuzzi, 3, 90129 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guido Ruggero","family":"Loria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia; Via Gino Marinuzzi, 3, 90129 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8928-9941","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Cascone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia; Via Gino Marinuzzi, 3, 90129 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1011-9924","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Massimiliano","family":"Lanza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A), University of Catania, Via Valdisavoia, 5, 95123 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"#cr-split#-ref_1.1","unstructured":"European Commission (2003). 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