333 Using Specific Bacillus Strains to Improve Digestibility and Performance of Growing Steers

Abstract

Abstract Low fiber digestibility is an important factor restricting the growth performance of cattle in the dry tropics, both during the initial growth phase in grazing systems and later during finishing in high-starch diets. Due to concerns relating to the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics, including ionophores, there is interest in replacing these with probiotics. The objective was to evaluate the effects of specific strains of Bacillus spp. (Bovacillus, Chr. Hansen, Denmark) on intake and total tract nutrient digestibility of two diets. The first diet was forage based [100% Rhodes grass hay with 69% neutral detergent fiber (NDF)], the second was a high-energy diet (20% Rhodes grass hay, 40% finisher pellet, 30% peanut hull fiber pellet, 10% ground barley, 47% NDF, 18% starch). Twelve Bos indicus steers (267 ± 7.5 kg) were blocked by initial body weight and randomly assigned to receive the diets either without probiotic supplementation (n = 6, Control) or the diets plus 3 g per head of a probiotic containing a mixture of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis (3.2 x 109 CFU/g) for the duration of the trial. Each diet was fed for a 34-d period in individual pens followed by a 7-d sampling period during which the steers were housed in metabolism crates for total collection of urine and feces. On the high-fiber diet, supplementing with the probiotic increased organic matter digestibility by 7.8% (49.9 vs. 53.8%) and NDF digestibility by 8.4% (49.7 vs. 53.9%) resulting in greater (P < 0.05) digestible fiber intake (1.62 vs. 1.72 kg/d). There was no effect of probiotic supplementation on intake or digestibility in the high starch diet, and Bacillus supplements did not change rumen microbial protein synthesis in both diets. In conclusion, supplementing steers with a Bacillus-based probiotic has the potential to improve the nutrient digestibility and performance of beef steers, especially in tropical grazing systems.