treatmentsA specific blend (XTract®6965) of EO compounds manufactured by Pancosma Bioactives (Geneva, Switzerland) was usedin this experiment. XTract®6965 was composed of 280 g/kg of eugenol and 170 g/kg of cinnamaldehyde, with the balancebeing excipients. Experimental treatments consisted of an untreated Control (0 mg/d) and three incremental levels (200,400 and 600 mg/cow/d) of the EO blend. The doses were chosen on the basis of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 times the manufacturer’srecommended feeding level. The EO blend was thoroughly mixed with ground corn grain and fed individually to each cowtwice a day (0.86 kg corn grain DM/cow each time), at the milking times of 0600 and 1600 h.