Vol. 10, Issue 5, Part A (2025)

Author(s): Soham Samanta, Barun Roy, Indranil Samanta, Saktipada Pradhan and Stephen Soren

Abstract: This study assessed the impact of dietary supplementation with Bacillus xiamenensis probiotic on the growth performance, carcass traits and gut health of commercial broiler chickens. A total of 120 one-day-old mixed-sex Vencobb 400 broiler chickens were randomly allotted to three dietary groups, each with five replicated pens (N=5) with eight broiler chickens per pen. The dietary groups were 1) basal diet without any growth promoter (CON), 2) basal diet with Bacillus xiamenensis at 1 ml/liter of drinking water (BX1), and 3) basal diet with Bacillus xiamenensis at 2 ml/liter of drinking water (BX2). Body weight, feed intake, and Feed Conversion Ratios (FCR) were monitored weekly for 35 days. Carcass traits, gut microbiome, and gut morphology were evaluated at the end of the trial. The results showed that the BX2 group had a significantly higher final body weight compared to the BX1 and control groups (p<0.05). Weekly feed intake, FCR and carcass characteristics did not differ significantly among the dietary treatment groups. Both BX1 and BX2 supplementation resulted in a significant decrease in crypt depth and an increase in villi height to crypt depth ratio in the duodenum compared to the control group. Furthermore, BX1 and BX2 supplementation led to a significant reduction in caecal E. coli and Salmonella counts compared to the control group, while caecal Lactobacillus counts were similar among the groups. In conclusion, supplementing broilers with probiotic has positive effects.

DOI: 10.22271/veterinary.2025.v10.i5a.2228