The Effects of In Ovo Injection of Synbiotics on the Early Growth Performance and Intestinal Health of Chicks

Abstract

In this study, the effects of synbiotic inclusion at the intra-amniotic stage in layer chicks were evaluated with different parameters, such as performance, immunological function, intestinal development, and cecal microflora content. A total of 1,200 eggs with fertile embryos were allocated into four treatment groups. For every treatment, five replicates were used, and 60 eggs were included in each replicate. The following four treatment groups were established: the non-injected group, 0.9% physiological saline injection (saline) group, 1 × 106 CFU/egg Lactobacillus plantarum injection (probiotic) group, and 1 × 106 CFU/egg L. plantarum + 2 mg/egg Astragalus polysaccharide injection (synbiotic) group. In ovo injection was carried out at 18.5 days of incubation. The results showed that in ovo injection of probiotics or synbiotics did not affect the hatching or growth performance of the chicks but significantly increased their feed intake (FI), body weight (BW), and the feed conversion ratio (FCR). Additionally, in ovo injection of synbiotics enhanced the levels of serum interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in intestinal lavage fluid and the histomorphological development of the small intestine. Our results also indicated that intra-amniotic synbiotic injection significantly increased Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium colonization while decreasing the relative abundance of Escherichia coli in the chicken cecum (P < 0.05). In summary, in ovo injection of synbiotics had positive impacts on the performance, immunological function, gut development, and microbiota of growing chicks.

Dietary Lactobacillus plantarum improves the growth performance and intestinal health of Pekin ducks

“…Besides, our investigation also indicated that 400 mg/kg LP stimulated the development of immune organs such as thymus and bursa of fabricius of Pekin ducks . Similarly, previous studies have shown that LP slightly increases thymus index in egg-laying chickens infected with Clostridium perfringens ( Xu et al., 2020 ), and enhances thymus and bursa of fabricius indices of chicks ( Duan et al., 2021 ). The ameliorated growth performance and organ indices of ducks in the present study may have relation with the beneficial changes in immunity, TJ proteins, and microbiota, which are categorized as intestinal health.…”

“…Gut microbes play an integral role in host feed utilization efficiency and maintenance of the intestinal homeostasis ( Pan and Yu, 2014 ). Dietary LP could modulate the abundance of beneficial bacteria and potential pathogens in the gut of broilers ( Shen et al., 2014 ; Wu et al., 2018 ; Duan et al., 2021 ). Our results revealed that supplementation of 400, 800 mg/kg LP increased the relative abundance of Firmicutes and decreased Bacteroidetes , which have a positive effect in facilitating growth performance and negative impact in serum proinflammatory factor IL-1β.…”

Physiological effects of in ovo delivery of bioactive substances in broiler chickens

“…Some synbiotics, such as raffinose with Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris IBB SC1, lactose with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus faecium ( 142 ), and Lactobacillus plantarum with Astragalus polysaccharide, or probiotics, such as Lactobacillus plantarum with an increased feed conversion ratio ( 143 ). These conflicting results are likely due to the types of bioactive substances, dosages, environmental conditions, and management differences.…”

In ovo Feeding as a Tool for Improving Performance and Gut Health of Poultry: A Review

“…Duan et al ( 122 ) studied the effect of IOF of L. plantarum and astragalus polysaccharide at ED 18.5. The IOF of this synbiotic improved the growth performance, immunity, and morphology of the small intestine and cecal microflora.…”