The Effects of Dietary Lemongrass Oil (Cymbopogon nardus) and Selenium on Production Performances, Internal Organs, and Immune Organ Weights in Broiler Chickens.

INTRODUCTION: Raising broiler chickens in tropical countries faces challenges, primarily heat stress, which reduces feed intake, weakens immunity, increases infections and mortality, and impairs growth, ultimately leading to economic losses. This study evaluated the effect of dietary lemongrass oil and selenium on broiler production performance and internal organ weight. MATERIALS & METHODS: A total of 288 Cobb strain broilers were allocated into 6 treatments with 6 replicates, using a completely randomized factorial design. Treatment included lemongrass oil (0 mL/kg, 2 mL/kg, 4 mL/kg) and selenomethionine (0 ppm, 0.4 ppm). Parameters measured were broiler production performances, internal organs, and immune organ weights. RESULTS: The inclusion of 4 mL/kg lemongrass oil significantly reduced (P<0.05) feed intake, body weight, and body weight gain. The inclusion of 0.4 ppm selenomethionine significantly increased (P<0.05) the body weight and reduced the FCR of broiler chickens. The inclusion of 4 mL/kg lemongrass oil significantly reduced (P<0.05) the feed intake, body weight gain, and body weight, while significantly increasing (P<0.05) proventriculus weight. The combination of 4 mL/ kg lemongrass oil and 0.4 ppm selenomethionine significantly reduced (P<0.05) the weights of the ileum and gallbladder. The treatment did not affect (P>0.05) the weight of the ventriculus, heart, liver, duodenum, jejunum, cecum, colon, abdominal fat, thymus, lymph, and bursa of Fabricius. CONCLUSION: The conclusion is that the inclusion of 0.4 ppm selenomethionine in the diet increases the body weight and feed efficiency, whereas inclusion of up to 4 mL/kg lemongrass oil in the diet reduces the broiler's production performances and the weight of the ileum and gallbladder.