Dietary sublancin or oregano essential oil enhances growth and immunity in goat kids via modulating colonic microbiota and bile acids

Abstract The gut microbiota-bile acid (BA)-immune network is critical for ruminant health. This study investigated the effects of dietary sublancin or oregano essential oil (OEO) on growth performance, immunity, colonic microbiota, and BA metabolism in fattening goat kids. Twenty-four 3-month-old Saanen goat kids (16.08 ± 1.29 kg) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 6): control (C), OEO (O; 7 g/d), sublancin (S; 2 g/d), and half–dose combination (M; 3.5 g/d OEO + 1 g/d sublancin). The 139-d trial