Objectives: Antibiotics could promote the production of livestock; however the long- term use in livestocks may pose a risk to human health. Herbal medicine can improve the performance and immune function of livestock with no drug resistance and relatively less toxicity. This study was done to evaluate the effects of herbal medicine and antibiotics on growth performance, slaughter performance and blood biochemical parameters of pigeons. Materials & Methods: Seventy- two pairs (male ＆ female) of breeding pigeons were selected and randomly divided into 3 groups including control, antibiotic (41.4 mg/kg doxycycline and 10 mg/kg florfenicol) and herbal medicine group (2% hydroalchoholic extract + Thymbera spicata and Ferulago angulata). The weight of squabs and feed intake were recorded weekly during the experiment. On day 28, three pigeons per replicate were randomly slaughtered to determine blood biochemical parameters and slaughter performance. Results & Conclusion: Adding herbal medicine increased the feed intake (P < 0.05). Antibiotics increased the half eviscerated carcass ratio and eviscerated carcass ratio (P < 0.05). The wing muscle ratio and the leg muscle ratio of herbal medicine group were higher in compare to antibiotic group (P < 0.05). Both herbal medicine and antibiotics increased the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL- C) (P < 0.05). Herbal medicine could improve growth performance and slaughter performance better compared with antibiotics.
