2019 Volume 33 Issue 1 Pages 27-36
An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding a probiotic bacterial strain (Enterococcus faecium strain BIO) on body weight gain, immune responses (n=9 in each group), meat weight and quality (n=4 in each group), and the intestinal microbiota (n=5 in each group) in broiler chickens. Seventy-two broiler chickens were assigned to the following 4 test groups: the feed containing live E. faecium strain BIO group (live BIO group), heat-killed E. faecium strain BIO group (heat-killed BIO group), antibiotic feed additive group (AFA group), and neither E. faecium strain BIO nor antibiotic feed additive group (control group). For immune responses, we examined responses to sheep blood cells (SRBCs; T cell-dependent antigens) and Brucella melitensis (T cell-independent antigens) and delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions using broiler chicken wattles. For meat quality, we examined heating loss, shear force, meat press juice rate, and moisture of breast meat. The intestinal microbiota was examined at 4 positions: the crop, duodenum, jejunum and ileum, and cecum. Detected intestinal microbiota were as follows: 1, E. coli; 2, Bacillus; 3, Enterococcus; 4, Lactobacillus; 5, Cl. perfringens; 6, Campylobacter; 7, total anaerobic bacteria; and 8, fungus. The results revealed no significant difference in body weight gain, meat weight, or immune responses. The number of fungi in the crop was significantly lower in the live BIO group than in the heat-killed BIO and AFA groups. The number of Enterococcus cells in the jejunum and ileum was significantly lower in the AFA group than in the other groups. The number of fungus cells in the jejunum and ileum was significantly lower in the live BIO group than in the other groups. The number of Bacillus cells in the cecum was significantly higher in the live BIO and heat-killed BIO groups than in the other groups. The number of Enterococcus cells in the cecum was significantly lower in the AFA group than in the other groups. The heat loss (%) of the AFA group at 49 days of age was higher than those of both BIO groups.
