Abstract
ABSTRACTA total of 240 Hy-Line 40-week-old Salmonella-free layers were assigned to 5 dietary treatments composed of 12 replications, with 4 laying hens per replications in a 5-week experiment trial on laying hens challenged with Salmonella gallinarum. Dietary treatment comprised: (1) NC, basal diet; (2) PC, NC + oral S. gallinarum administration; (3) B8, PC + 0.1% Bacillus subtilis (108cfu/g); (4) B9, PC + 0.1% B. subtilis (109cfu/g) and (5) B10, PC + 0.1% B. subtilis (1010cfu/g). B. subtilis groups reduced the population of S. gallinarum in both large intestine and excreta compared with PC laying hens. The population of S. gallinarum in challenged laying hens fed B. subtilis was significantly lower in small intestine, large intestine and excreta. In the small intestine, Lactobacillus population was higher in B10 compared with PC. Addition of B. subtilis improved eggshell thickness. Egg shell strength showed an improvement in week 5 and it was higher in B9 and B10 compared with PC. Haptoglobin concentration was higher in the PC group compared with other groups. In conclusion, diets supplemented with B. subtilis as a novel anti-salmonella bacteria show potential for decreasing S. gallinarium in the intestinal tract and improving egg gravity, eggshell strength and eggshell quality during the laying period.
Highlights
Due to the focus on the protection of human health, there are increasing concerns about food safety and reduction of foodborne pathogens in food animals and their products
B. subtilis groups reduced the population of S. gallinarum in both large intestine and excreta compared with PC laying hens
The ability of B. subtilis spores to protect against the Salmonella Heidelberg challenge with 58% reduction in Salmonella-positive drag swabs compared with control chickens may be due to the acidification of the intestinal environment which inhibits the growth of detrimental bacteria in chickens (Knap et al 2011)
Summary
Due to the focus on the protection of human health, there are increasing concerns about food safety and reduction of foodborne pathogens in food animals and their products. The recent international legislation to ban antibiotics in most of the countries has been accompanied by increased incidence of poultry salmonellosis. This has provided impetus to the application of biological substances such as probiotics, which have been reported to be beneficial for food animal production. Bacillus subtilis is a spore-forming anaerobic bacterium (Wu et al 2009), which can be used as a single bacterial strain or a mixture of different species to prevent the colonization of pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract of poultry and to improve some aspects of their health
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