| Popis: |
Summary: Administration of functional feed additives, including direct-fed microorganisms (DFM), dietary prebiotics, and phytogenic preparations, has been demonstrated to improve growth performance, animal health, and microbial food safety in poultry and is thought to be a potentially important component of antibiotic-free poultry production. In this study, we investigated the administration of Bacillus licheniformis (BL) as a DFM, coadministration of BL with an additive blend of a dietary prebiotic and a phytogenic preparation (BL + A), and coadministration of BL with a dietary prebiotic as a synbiotic in broiler chickens in comparison with an antibiotic over a 21 d growth period. Administration of BL improved FCR as compared with untreated broilers through 14 d after hatch. Administration of BL + A and synbiotic increased total Lactic Acid Bacteria and decreased Clostridium perfringens compared with the antibiotic-treated and untreated broilers, respectively. Administration of BL was also observed to increase the villus height to crypt depth ratio as compared with the untreated control. Overall, our results suggest coadministration of B. licheniformis as a DFM with other functional feed additives is able to improve feed efficiency, promote positive shifts in populations of gastrointestinal microbiota, and improve measures of gastrointestinal function. |
