Performance And Economic Viability Of Broiler Chickens Fed With Probiotic And Organic Acids In An Attempt To Replace Growth-Promoting Antibiotics

Rgac Araujo,G Ventura,Km Silva,A Barbieri,Gv Polycarpo,Vcc Polycarpo

doi:10.1590/1806-9061-2018-0912

Rgac Araujo, G Ventura + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9061-2018-0912

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate diets supplemented with probiotic (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) and organic acids (lactic, acetic and butyric acid) in attempt to replace the antibiotics and anticoccidial (avilamycin + sodium monensin) growth promoters on performance and economic viability of broilers challenged by Eimeria acervulina, E. maxima and E. tenella. A total of 900 male Cobb® chickens, with a mean weight of 39.90g, were distributed in a completely randomized design in a 2 × 2 + 1 factorial arrangement: supplementation or not of probiotic and organic acids and a treatment with inclusion of antibiotics, comprising five treatments with six replicates. For the studied performance variables, there was no effect of the isolated additives and no interaction between them (p>0.05). Only the antibiotics promoted better results for weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion rate (FCR). Therefore, the use of organic acids and probiotic, isolated or associated, provided lower performance to those receiving antibiotics, not improving the performance of chickens under the imposed challenge conditions. The highest revenues were generated with the use of antibiotics, providing greater profits.

Highlights

In broiler production, the main aim is to obtain productivity with satisfactory results of zootechnical performance
The use of antibiotics as a growth promoter shows that their use in broiler nutrition is extremely important to maintain the types and quantity of bacteria in the digestive tract, as well as to form adequate protection to the wall of the intestinal mucosa, to which enables a better utilization of the nutrients (Gonzales, Mello, Café, 2012; Shawkat et al 2015)
The aim of this study was to evaluate diets supplemented with probiotics and/or organic acids in an attempt to replace growth-promoting antibiotics on zootechnical performance and economic viability in broiler production

Summary

Introduction

The main aim is to obtain productivity with satisfactory results of zootechnical performance. The use of antibiotics as a growth promoter shows that their use in broiler nutrition is extremely important to maintain the types and quantity of bacteria in the digestive tract, as well as to form adequate protection to the wall of the intestinal mucosa, to which enables a better utilization of the nutrients (Gonzales, Mello, Café, 2012; Shawkat et al 2015) Their use has been pointed out as one of the possible causes of the increase in bacterial resistance, intensifying discussions based on the possibility of the presence of residues of animal origin in food that could harm the consumer’s health. There is the likelihood of an increase in microbial resistance, which can lead to problems in antibiotic treatments in humans, raising the attention of research to overcome such issues (Kelley et al 1998; Sorum & Sunde, 2001; Roe & Pillai, 2003; Silva et al 2010)

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