Rosemary


Rosmarinus officinalis

Rosemary

Other Names:

Romero, Dew Of The Sea, Compass Plant, Compass Weed, Incensier, Polar Plant, Mi-tieh-hsiang

Benefits

  • Antioxidant
  • Antifungal
  • Antibacterial
  • Antitumor
  • Insect-repellent
  • Hepatoprotective
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a perennial woody evergreen herb native to the Mediterranean region. It has narrow, curved, fine needle-like leaves with a silver touch and pink, purple, white, or blue flowers. Rosemary is a common medicinal plant, known for its distinctive aroma and use in culinary dishes. The leaves from the rosemary plant are used for tinctures and infusions developed for traditional medicine and can used to prepare tea, essential oil, and liquid extract.

Specific applications relating to poultry keeping include:
  • Liver Protection: Adding rosemary to chickens' feed at 500ppm showed some benefit to chickens suffering from liver damage as a result of aflatoxicosis, due to ingestion of toxic molds, common in poor quality poultry feed.
  • Nutrition: According to the USDA, fresh rosemary has a very high reserve of vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin C, B vitamins, as well as minerals like magnesium, calcium, copper, iron, and manganese.
  • Neurological Protection: The carnosic acid in rosemary has neuroprotective properties. It helps to reduce oxidative stress and overstimulation in nerve cells, ultimately protecting the nervous system. It is also known to protect certain parts of the brain from tissue damage such as ischemic injury, heals nervous tissue, and reduce blood clots.
  • Antibacterial and Antimicrobial: Rosemary is specifically powerful against bacterial infections. It is linked to preventing Staphylococcus aureus infections (think bumblefoot prevention).

Poultry Specific Studies

TypePlant PartDosageSpecific useResultsRef
Broilers1 g/kg dietnecrotic enteritisDecreased BWG. Decreased FI.J Carrasco et al., 2016
Chickensleaves powder extract2.5-7.5 g/kg dietfertility enhancementRLP supplementation could successfully attenuate age-related sub-fertility in senescent roosters.S Borghei-Rad et al., 2017
Broilerspowder1.0% dietimmunitycan interact and modulate the humoral immunity of broilers, but not sufficiently to improve antibody titers against specific virus during a 42-day production cycle.H Rostami et al., 2018

References