Effect of multi-enzymes in combination with a direct-fed microbial on performance and welfare parameters in broilers under commercial production settings

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the response of broilers to the combination of multi-enzymes and direct-fed microbial (DFM) under commercial production settings. A total of 7,000 1-day-old male broilers (Ross 308) were distributed over 10 pens (700 broilers/pen). Two dietary treatments were tested using complete randomized design, including a control diet and a test diet with addition of multi-enzymes (xylanase, amylase, and protease (XAP)] and DFM (a combination of spores from 3 strains ofBacillus amyloliquefaciens). Pelleted diets were offered ad libitum in 3 phases and water was freely available. During starter and grower phases (0 to 21 d), the enzyme and DFM combination resulted in improved FE (P < 0.05). During the finisher phase, higher feed intake and BW gain (P < 0.05) were observed for the test group. Overall, there were significantly higher feed intake, BW gain, and lower water-to-feed ratio in test group compared to the control group. This was related to improved (P < 0.05) modified production efficiency factor which was calculated based on final BW, survival rate, feeding period, and mortality-weight-corrected FCR. The test group had improved litter quality and a reduced foot-pad lesion score compared to the control. In addition, there was a tendency (P < 0.1) of reducingClostridium perfringens population in cecal digesta and higher lactic acid content in the ileal digesta, when expressed on an as-is basis, in the test group. In this study, we demonstrated that using a multi-enzymes and DFM combination in the diet for broilers can result in improved FE in starter/grower phases and animal welfare parameters, and lead to improved production efficiency under commercial settings.