Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Probiotic Aspergillus niger on Performance and Cecal Microbiota in Hy-Line W-36 Laying Hens

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the role of the probiotic Aspergillus niger on the production performance, egg quality, and cecal microbial load of Clostridium perfringens, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli in Hy-Line W-36 laying hens. A total of 72, 45-week-old Hy-Line W-36 laying hens were randomly allocated to one of the three dietary treatments with six replicates, and each replicate had four individually caged laying hens (n = 6 and 4 hens/replicate). The hens in each treatment group were fed a corn and soybean meal diet (Control), a diet supplemented with bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) at a rate of 495 mg/kg of feed (Positive Control), or a diet supplemented with Aspergillus niger (Probioist®) at a rate of 220 mg/kg of feed (Probiotic). Supplementing probiotics in the laying hen diet significantly increased egg production at weeks 3 and 6 compared with the Positive Control. Haugh unit, a measure of egg quality, was significantly higher in laying hens fed the probiotic diet compared with the Control or Positive Control at week 10. Furthermore, the Probiotic group had numerically lower cecal microbial loads of pathogenic bacteria (Clostridium perfringens, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli) compared with the Control and Positive Control groups. The results suggest that Aspergillus niger could be used as a probiotic to improve laying hen performance and egg quality.

Effects of Artemisia annua supplementation on the performance and gut health of laying hens challenged with mixed Eimeria species

“…The daily feed consumption ( ADFI ) and feed conversion ratio ( FCR ) were measured. The FCR was expressed as the kg of feed consumed per dozen eggs produced ( Sharma et al, 2022b ).…”

Coccidiosis in Egg-Laying Hens and Potential Nutritional Strategies to Modulate Performance, Gut Health, and Immune Response

“…Probiotics are selective nonpathogenic microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, offer a beneficial advantage to the host and improve gut functions by altering the gut microflora and reducing pathogenic bacteria colonization in the gastrointestinal tract [184][185][186][187]. By selectively eliminating pathogenic microorganisms from the GI tract through competitive exclusion, probiotics promote the growth of beneficial bacteria.…”

Extended Abstracts of Short Presentations at Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition – Australia 2023

“…The use of antibiotics as growth promoters evolved and grew with the commercial poultry industry to fulfill the growing demand for meat and eggs as both per capita consumption and total populations increased across the globe (Chen et al 2018;Suresh et al 2018;Sharma et al 2022).…”