The effects of feeding a standardized mixture of essential oils vs monensin on growth performance, dietary energy and carcass characteristics of lambs fed a high-energy finishing diet

Thirty-six Pelibuey × Katahdin crossbred intact male lambs (28.5 ± 3.5 kg) were used in a 56-d experiment in a randomized complete block design to evaluate the effects of a standardized mixture of essential oils (EO) versus monensin sodium (MON) on growth performance, dietary energy, and carcass characteristics. Lambs were fed a corn-based finishing diet (13.8 % CP and 2.14 Mcal NEm/kg DM) supplemented with: 1) no additive (Control), 2) 30 mg MON/lamb, and 3) 150 mg EO/lamb. Water consumption of EO and Control lambs was not different. In contrast, lambs fed MON consumed 18.1 % less (P