Performance, Haematological Parameters Of Broilers Fed Commercial Diets 1 Supplemented With Novel Probiotic Bacillus plus Vitamins And Minerals

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of supplementation with novel probiotic 13 Bacillus plus vitamins and minerals on growth performance, haematological parameters and carcass 14 traits of broilers fed standard commercial feeds. Two hundred and eighty eight 1-day-old broiler 15 chicks were randomly allocated to four groups, including control birds (birds receiving standard 16 commercial feed without additional supplement) and birds receivingstandard commercial feeds 17 supplemented with probiotic Bacillus plus vitamins and minerals either 0.1%, 0.5% or 1%. 18 Supplementation did not affect (p>0.05) the final body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio 19 (FCR) of broilers. Dietary supplementation of 0.1 and 0.5% probiotic Bacillus plus vitamins and 20 minerals reduced (p≤0.05) heart relative weight of broilers. Supplementation tended (p=0.07) to 21 increase the relative weight of ileum and pancreas of broilers.Supplemented birds had lower (p≤0.05) 22 numbers of leukocytes and eosinophils compared to unsupplementedbirds. There were tendencies that 23 supplementation with probiotic Bacillus plus vitamins and minerals resulted in lower (p=0.07) counts 24 of lymphocytes and heterophils when compared with no supplementation. Supplementation of 0.5% 25 probiotic Bacillus plus vitamins and minerals resulted in lower (p≤0.05) serum concentration of uric 26 acid when compared with control. There was no significant effect of supplementation on carcass 27 traits, pH and drip loss of broiler meats. In conclusion, supplementation of standard commercial 28 broiler feeds especially with 0.5% probiotic Bacillus plus vitamins and minerals increased the 29 relative weight of ileum and pancreas, lowered counts of leukocytes, eosinophils, heterophils and 30 lymphocytes and reduced serum concentration of uric acid.