Bioefficacy performance and meat quality of a commercial feed supplemented with probiotics on broilers

Abstract

Probiotics are live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer health benefit and used as an alternative to antibiotics in poultry farming. They have been receiving increasing attention due to its benefits. This study was designed to investigate the synergetic effect of selected probiotics on the immunity, intestinal microbiota and the meat quality of broilers when they are eviscerated. A total of sixty (60) broilers, 1-15 day old birds divided into group A, B, and C were fed with a commercial feed supplemented with Lactobacillus casei (4.7 x 10³CFU/ml), Bacillus subtilis (4.5 x 10⁵CFU/ml), mixed culture of L. casei + B. subtilis, respectively, while the group D received no probiotic (control) for seven weeks. Although the broiler’s feed was contaminated with pathogens, the average weekly feed intake (FI) and weight gain (WG) steadily increased across the groups during the trial. At week 7, the highest FI (401g) and WG (1045g) involved the control. The broilers in group D had the highest mortality (40 %), while the least involved group A (0%).After 24 hours the broilers were slaughtered, the carcass from group C had the highest protein (22.96%) and least moisture (69.43%) content, while the group D had the least and highest values of 19.21% and 74.76%,respectively.The antimicrobial activity demonstrated by L. casei + B. subtilis against the pathogens isolated from the broiler’s feaces was more effective than the single culture. Overall, itis a probiotic recommended for the broilers based on improved meat quality and growth parameters of the broilers. Therefore, poultry farmers are encouraged to use probiotics to reduce mortality and cost of feeding the birds in order to achieve high productivity,