1. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of multi-strain probiotic (containing Lactobacillus acidophilus 2.5 × 10 cfu/g, Lactobacillus casei 2.5 × 10 cfu/g, Bifidobacterium thermophilum 2.5 × 10 cfu/g and Enterococcus faecium 2.5 × 10 cfu/g) and single-strain probiotic (Pediococcus acidilactici 1 × 10 cfu/g) on broiler breeder performance and gastrointestinal health. 2. A completely randomised trial was conducted using 300 broiler breeder hens (Ross 308) aged 51 weeks old which were randomly allocated to 1 of 5 dietary treatments with 6 replicates per treatment in a 10 week trial. Treatments included (1) the basal diet a negative control, (2) basal diet supplemented with 0.1 g/kg multi-strain probiotic (MS), (3) basal diet supplemented with 0.1 g/kg single-strain probiotic (SS), (4) basal diet supplemented with 0.1 g/kg of both of probiotics (MS+ SS) and (5) positive control basal diet supplemented with 0.5 g/kg oxytetracycline antibiotic (OX). 3. Body weight, egg production, yolk weight, eggshell thickness and weight, Haugh unit, fertility and hatchability were determined. Results showed that dietary treatments had no significant effect on total hen house or total hatching egg production, egg weight, yolk colour index, shell weight, mortality, body weight, fertility, hatchability, oviduct and stroma weight or number of large and small yellow follicles (P > 0.05). None of the jejunum morphological parameters, apparent ileal digestibility of protein and ileal Lactobacillus population were influenced by supplemental probiotics (P > 0.05), although ileum Escherichia coli count was reduced by inclusion of dietary probiotics (P < 0.05). 4. It was concluded that although both probiotic treatments reduced coliforms, they did not improve broiler breeder performance or gastrointestinal tract (GIT) function.
Colonization of the gastrointestinal tract by potentially pathogenic bacteria and their shedding in animal feces is a fundamental factor for both animal health and human food safety. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of salinomycin (
Sal
), direct-fed microbial (
DFM
), and
Ferulago angulata
hydroalcoholic extract (
FAE
) against
Campylobacter jejuni
in broiler chickens in a 6-week pilot-scale study. A total of six hundred and seventy two 1-day-old broiler chickens were equally divided into 6 groups (each consisting of 8 replicates of 14 birds): negative control (
NC
; untreated and uninfected); positive control (
PC
; untreated, infected with
C. jejuni
); PC + Sal; PC + DFM; PC + 200 mg/kg of FAE (
FAE200
); or PC + 400 mg/kg of FAE (
FAE400
). All these groups (except NC) were challenged with
C. jejuni
on day 15. The results showed that all experimental treatments improved (
P
< 0.05) average daily gain compared with the PC group, and the best value was observed in the NC and FAE400 groups throughout the entire experimental period (day 1–42). The overall feed conversion ratio and mortality rate, as well as the population of
C. jejuni
(day 24 and 42) and Coliforms (day 42) in the ileum and cecum, were higher (
P
< 0.05) in broiler chickens fed with the PC diet than for chickens in the other groups, except those in the FAE200 group. Immune responses revealed that among challenged birds, those that were fed diets DFM and FAE400 had significantly higher IgG (day 24 and 42), IgA (day 24), IL-6 (day 24), and gamma interferon (day 24 and 42) concentrations than the PC group. In conclusion, dietary FAE, especially at a high level of inclusion in broiler diet (400 mg/kg), could beneficially influence the immune status, as well as improve growth performance and intestinal microflora under
Campylobacter
challenge, which was comparable to those of Sal and DFM supplements.
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