Abstract
This study was conducted in order to find out the effect of Spirulina platensis (S. platensis) algae mixed with drinking water (2%) on the production performance of broiler chickens infected with or without Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) and compare it with the effects of probiotics (containing Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casi, L. reuteri, and Bacillus subtillis), prebiotics (containing antioxidants and a group of vitamins) as well as oxytetracycline. The experiment included 350 one day old (Ross-308) broiler chicks, randomly divided into 7 groups by 50 chicks per group for 35 days. The groups were divided as follows: T1: infected experimentally with E. faecalis only, T2: treated with S. platensis, T3: infected experimentally with E. faecalis and treated with 2% S. platensis, T4: infected experimentally with E. faecalis and treated with probiotic, T5: infected experimentally with E. faecalis and treated with prebiotic, T6: infected experimentally with E. faecalis and treated with oxytetracycline, and T7: control group without any addition. Weekly live body weight and weekly body weight gain were measured as well as weekly feed intake and feed conversion rate for broiler chickens were estimated. The current study proved that S. platensis algae added to drinking water (2%) in T2 and T3 groups had caused a significant increase (P<0.05) in the weekly live body weight and weekly body weight gain, Spirulina also caused a significant decrease (P<0.05) in weekly feed intake and feed conversion rate for broiler chickens. Therefore, S. platensis could be a suitable alternative to some feed additives such as probiotics, prebiotics, and antibiotics in addition to the ability of Spirulina to reduce the symptoms of E. faecalis.
Highlights
Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is Gram-positive bacteria and facultative anaerobic constitute the natural microflora of intestinal tract in mammals and birds [1]
The results showed significant differences in the body weight of chicks in the first week of the experiment, where group T2 recorded a significant increase in body weight over the control group (P
Probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casi, L. reuteri and Bacillus subtillis) and prebiotics work to stimulate the immune system of chicks and increase their ability to resist bacterial infections as well as stimulate the production of digestive enzymes in addition to containing vitamins that positively affect the health of birds [23]
Summary
Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is Gram-positive bacteria and facultative anaerobic constitute the natural microflora of intestinal tract in mammals and birds [1]. E. faecalis is an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium that causes many infections in poultry including septicemia, endocarditis, central nervous system infections, salpingitis and amyloidosis [2]. Antibiotics are used as growth promoters for poultry at low doses than therapeutic doses and the mechanics of antibiotic action is by interaction with intestinal bacterial mass [3,4,5]. As a result of excessive use of antibiotics, they caused the appearance of new bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics [6]. E. faecalis antibiotic-resistant bacteria will develop rapidly [7,8,9]. Resistance genes may be transmitted from animals to
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