Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare Mill.

Other Names:

Inuju, Hinojo, Morac, Fenykl, Fenoll, Mieloi, Hui Xiang

Benefits

Antiseptic
Diuretic
Antioxidant
Anti-inflammatory
Analgesic
Antitumor
Antihelmintic
Antifungal
Antibacterial
Gastroprotective
Antiviral
Anticoccidial
Immunity
Hepatoprotective
Cardioprotective

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is an ancient medicinal plant and seasonal herb that belongs to the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family. Fennel originated from the southern Mediterranean region as an aromatic herb and through naturalization and cultivation it grows wild throughout the Northern, Eastern, and Western hemispheres, specifically in Asia, North America, and Europe. Fennel has been extensively used in traditional medicine for a wide range of ailments. It is cultivated in the Mediterranean region because of its flavor, and it is used in traditional medicine and as a spice. Specific applications studied in poultry include:

Heat stress: Fennel may be a useful feed supplement to provide laying hens during hot weather, to alleviate the adverse effects of heat stress pertaining to egg quality. A study conducted in 2015 on 120, 40-week-old White Leghorn laying hens showed that adding 10 to 20 g/kg of fennel to the birds' feed for 30 days was beneficial. In addition, the study showed that independent of heat stress, the hens' consumption of fennel significantly reduced the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in the egg yolk.
Anticoccidial: Studies show it may be of benefit against coccidiosis in chickens.

Poultry Specific Studies

Type	Plant Part	Dosage	Specific use	Results	Ref
Chickens	EO	200 mg/kg diet	gut health	reduced ileal E. coli and Lactobacillus spp. populations.	A Ghiasvand et al., 2021
Chickens	seed powder	3.2% diet	immunity, heat stress	could be used as an agent for enhancing the broiler's tolerance during chronic heat stress condition from 19 to 41 days of age	A Al-Sagan, Ahmed et al., 2020
Hens	meal	18% diet diet	egg properties	Most of egg quality parameters showed nonsignificant difference among treatments. However, shell weight, shell thickness and yolk color were higher in DBP containing diets. Yolk weight was significantly lower in T1 and T2 than other treatments. Therefore, DBP could be substituted up to 18% as alternative feedstuffs for laying hens DBP without detrimental effect on performance and egg quality traits.	M Shumye et al., 2022