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Abstract
The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of the probiotic thepax and yogurt (as probiotic) on the growth response and intestinal microflora results of broiler chickens. Two hundred forty day-old Ross 308 broilers were equally distributed into 12 floor pens and reared for 42 day. The treatments consisted of yogurt (10, 5 and 2.5% during starter, grower and finisher periods in the drinking water, respectively) and thepax (1000, 500, 250 g/ton-1 in the starter, grower and finisher diets, respectively), resulting three experimental diets and a control group. Each dietary treatment was fed ad-libitum to four replicate group of 20 birds at the beginning of rearing period. Birds and feed were weighed on days 21 and 42. The results of experiment indicate that diets containing feed additives improved broiler performance. The body weight gain and feed conversion ratio improved significantly more (p < 0.05) with the thepax treatment compared with the control broilers during the total rearing period. The highest (p < 0.05) carcass and thigh values were recorded for broilers fed the diet supplemented with thepax and yogurt, respectively. The lowest abdominal fat pad value was obtained in broilers fed the diet supplemented with thepax. On d 21, thepax and yogurt significantly reduced (p < 0.05) cecal Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens populations compared with the control group. In conclusion, thepax and yogurt improved broilers growth response and conferred intestinal health benefits to chickens by improving their microbial ecology.
Highlights
Probiotics are defined as a live microbial feed supplement that beneficially affects the host animal by improving its microbial intestinal balance (Fuller, 1989)
In all rearing periods evaluated in this experiment, birds supplemented with thepax and yogurt presented significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) body weight gain (BWG) compared with control group, except for yogurt during the period of 1-21d of age
Feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved (p ≤ 0.10) in birds supplemented with thepax compared with the control treatment, but this difference was only significant compared with yogurt during the period of 1-42d of age
Summary
Probiotics are defined as a live microbial feed supplement that beneficially affects the host animal by improving its microbial intestinal balance (Fuller, 1989). The proposed modes of action of probiotics in poultry are: 1) maintenance of a beneficial microbial population by competitive exclusion and antagonism (Fuller, 1989), 2) improvement of feed intake and digestion (Nahanshon et al, 1992, 1993), and 3) changing bacterial metabolism (Cole et al, 1987; Jin et al, 1997). Thepax is a manipulated product of S. cerevisiae yeast cells with controlled reproduction and Boostani A, Ashayerizadeh A, Mahmoodian Fard H R, Aminafshar M supplemented with amino acids, minerals and vitamins. These supplementary ingredients have positive effects on growth and provide a favorable intestinal flora. Yogurt may aid digestion and inhibit the development of pathogens by improving the balance of the microbes living in the digestive tract (Metchnikoff, 1998)
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