Performance and Cecal Bacteria Counts of Broilers Fed Low Protein Diets With and Without a Combination of Probiotic and Prebiotic

Abstract

KeywordsBroiler, low protein diet, prebiotic, probiotic.Submitted: June/2016 Approved: November/2016 ABStRACt A total of 360 one-day-old Cobb 500 chicks were randomly distributed in a completely randomized design according to a 3×2 factorial arrangement, consisting of three levels of dietary crude protein (100, 90 and 85% of NRCrecommended levels) and a feed additive (with or without feed additive). A blend of a commercial probiotic and a prebiotic were used as feed additives. Each treatment had four replicates of 15 birds each. Prebiotic and probiotic were added to the starter (days 1 to 21) and finisher (days 22 to 42) diets according to the manufacturer´s recommendations. The findings indicated that significant differences were not observed between 100 and 90% NRC for broiler performance (body weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio) throughout the experiment, while the birds fed the diets containing 85% NRC had poorer performance than those fed 100% (p<0.05). Feed additives had no significant effect on broilers performance. There was no significant interaction between protein level and feed additive for performance. Dietary inclusion of feed additives had no significant effect on cecal lactobacillus and Escherichia coli counts at 21 days of age, while, at 42 days of age, feed additive increased lactobacillus and decreased the counts of Escherichia coli (p< 0.05). In conclusion, according to the findings of the current experiment, dietary crude protein could be reduced by 10%, without negative effect on broiler performance. Supplementation with feed additives had no significant effect on broiler performance, but beneficially influenced cecal bacteria counts at 42 days of age.

Dietary probiotics as a strategy for improving growth performance, intestinal efficacy, immunity, and antioxidant capacity of white Pekin ducks fed with different levels of CP

“…In line with the obtained results, some authors indicated that carcass weight showed a positive linear trend with the probiotic level ( Azadegan Mehr et al., 2007 ; Pourakbari et al., 2016 ). In addition, previous reports showed that probiotic supplements reduce the percentage of abdominal fat ( Anjum et al., 2005 ; Azadegan Mehr et al., 2007 ; Ravangard et al., 2017 ). The detected increased percentage of liver weight in ducks fed with a low protein level (14% CP) may indicate the presence of fatty liver or the occurrence of inflammation as a result of an imbalance in energy-to-protein ratio in the diet and the consequent hormonal and metabolism imbalance ( Rozenboim et al., 2016 ).…”

“…The improved FCR may be one of the reasons for the promoted growth in groups fed on probiotic diets. In this regard, several studies demonstrated an improvement in the growth and nutrient utilization by the addition of probiotics under the optimal or suboptimal nutritional levels ( Torres-Rodriguez et al., 2005 ; Kim et al., 2011 ; Salim et al., 2013 ; Bozkurt et al., 2014 ; Ravangard et al., 2017 ). The observed decrease in FCR may be associated with the improved intestinal status owing to modulating the intestine structure, secretion, microflora, or probiotics' anti-inflammatory impacts ( Fuller, 2001 ; Lutful Kabir, 2009 ; Olnood et al., 2015 ; Yadav and Jha, 2019 ).…”

“…Adequate dietary CP is nutritionally and economically base in all feeding systems. The appropriate use of low-protein diets has become common to solve the problem of protein cost, solve the problem of environmental problems related to excreted nitrogen, and allow alternative feedstuffs ( Ravangard et al., 2017 ). However, excessive protein deficiency in the diet may impair poultry performance ( Aftab et al., 2006 ; Namroud et al., 2008 ; Houshmand et al., 2012 ; Jiang et al., 2018 ).…”

Xylanase and xylo- oligosaccharide prebiotic improve the growth performance and concentration of potentially prebiotic oligosaccharides in the ileum of broiler chickens

“…In addition to this, SCFAs have been shown to influence growth performance in broilers. Butyrate, in particular, is regarded as an available energy source, increasing the energy available to the host for growth (Ravangard et al 2017). Supplementing broiler diets with xylanase or XOS has been shown to affect the production of SCFA in the caeca of broiler chickens (Engberg et al 2004;Lee et al 2017).…”

Caecal bacterial composition of broiler chickens affected by porang glucomannan

“…in the caecum of broiler because the amount and kind of amino acids determined growth of the bacteria although the diets had same protein level. Ravangard et al (2017) used step down protein in their research and stated that caecum bacterial counts, Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli counts, were significantly not influenced by different nutritional content but only affected by inclusion of feed additive. In line with this study, the difference in the composition of the caecum microbiota might be caused by the addition of feed additive between control and prebiotics treatments while diet composition source of feed between basal and commercial feed.…”