Intestinal histology of broiler chickens fed direct fed microbial (RE3) and antibiotics

Abstract

This study was conducted to compare the effects of using direct fed microbial (RE3) and antibiotics on the gut morphology. Two hundred and forty unsexed, one-day old Marshal strain broiler chicks were used for the experiment. The birds were randomly allotted into three dietary treatments with each treatment replicated four times at 20 birds per replicate making a total of 80 birds per treatment. The experimental design was completely randomized design. The villous height (9.303E2), the crypt depth (1.5053E2) and the muscular thickness (2.2311E2) of the RE3 treated birds were higher (P<0.05) when compared with birds fed with control diet (T1) 8.619E2, 1.3790E2 and 1.9645E2 and the control + antibiotics (T3) 7.0677E2, 1.3331E2 and 1.9027E2 respectively. The observations revealed that birds put on treatment 2 (RE3 probiotics) had better presentation and preservation of the intestinal villi, glands and intestinal wall integrity. It was concluded that supplementation of broilers diets with the direct fed microbial (RE3) will lead to maintenance of intestinal health and better utilization of nutrients to enable full expression of genetic potential.

Keywords: direct fed microbial, broilers, villous height, crypt depth, muscular thickness