ABSTRACT
Poultry Meat is one of the major sources of human food. The cholesterol level in poultry productions could be monitored by feeding different medicinal plants. The medicinal plants have hypolipidemic and antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was comparison hypolipidemic effect, hematocrit percentage and hemoglobin concentration in broilers given three commercial herbal extracts and virginiamycin. A total four hundred and eighty 1-d-old male broiler chicks were assigned to the basal diet [control] and 0.15% [V/V] virginiamycin, 0.1 [V/V] extracts of thyme [Thymus vulgaris], coneflower [Echinacea purpurea], garlic [Allium sativum] and blend of extracts with the same dose were added to water. Total cholesterol [TC], LDL cholesterol, triglycerides [TG], HDL cholesterol, hematocrit percentage and hemoglobin concentration were measured after 42 days. Garlic [Allium sativum]significantly reduced the levels of TC, LDL and TG and significantly increased the level of HDL. Thyme [Thymus vulgaris] improved hematocrit percentage and hemoglobin concentration, but not significantly. Herbal extracts could improve blood factors in comparison with the control and antibiotic fed birds