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Clostridium perfringens (CP) is the principal pathogenic bacterium of chicken necrotic enteritis (NE), which causes substantial economic losses in poultry worldwide. Although probiotics are known to provide multiple benefits, little is known about the potential effects of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) application in preventing CP-induced necrotic enteritis. In this study, 450 male Arbor Acres broilers were divided into 5 experimental treatments: A: basal diet (control group); B: basal diet and CP challenge (model group); C: CP challenge+10 mg/kg enramycin (positive control group); D: CP challenge+ 4 × 10 7 CFU / kg of feed B. subtilis PB6 (PB6 low-dosage group); and E: CP challenge+ 6 × 10 7 CFU / kg of feed B. subtilis PB6 (PB6 high-dosage group). There were 6 replicate pens per treatment with 15 broilers per pen. The present research examined the effect of Bacillus subtilis PB6 (B. subtilis PB6) on growth performance, mRNA expression of intestinal cytokines and tight junctions, and gut flora composition in broilers challenged with CP. The entire experiment was divided into two phases: the non-CP challenge phase (d0–18) and the CP challenge phase (d18–26). PB6 did not increase the growth performance during the first stage, but the PB6 high-dosage group was found to have larger body weight gain and ADFI during the CP challenge stage. Feed supplementation with PB6 reduced the lesion score of challenged chicks, with increased tight junction-related gene expression (occludin and ZO-1) and decreased TNF-α expression compared with CP-infected birds. A decrease in the abundance of Clostridium XI, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus was observed after CP infection ( P < 0.05 ), while supplementation with PB6 restored the ileal microbial composition. In conclusion, administration of B. subtilis PB6 improved growth performance, enhanced intestinal barrier function, and mitigated intestinal inflammation/lesions, which might be due to its restoring effects on the ileal microbial composition in CP-challenged broilers.

This experiment was conducted to study the effects of dietary supplementation with acidifiers on the growth performance, meat quality, and intestinal health of broiler chickens. A total of 648 male Arbor Acres broiler chickens at 1 d old were randomly divided into 6 groups, and each group consisted of 6 replicates with 18 broilers per replicate. The dietary treatments were as follows: negative control (NC, the basal diet), NC + antibiotic (enramycin, 8 mg/kg, positive control [PC]), NC + phosphoric acid (PA, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 g/kg), and NC + lactic acid (LA, 0.3 g/kg). The feeding trial lasted for 42 d. The results showed that the feed-to-gain ratio of the NC + acidifier groups was lower than that of the NC and PC groups from 1 to 42 d (P

Background and Aim: Broiler meat is susceptible to lipid oxidation due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially when stored for a long time. Concerning with that problem, we can add natural compounds to the animal feed, as the plant essential oils, which have antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity, fatty acid profile, and chemical composition of the meat of broilers fed with diets containing different essential oil, including lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and pedestrian tea (Lippia aff. rotundifolia). Materials and Methods: The experimental design used was a 4×4 factorial scheme (storage time×diets), and each treatment was repeated thrice. The treatments were applied as negative control (without antimicrobial); positive control (ration supplemented with 10 ppm of enramycin and 42 ppm of salinomycin), lemongrass (ration with 120 mg of essential oil of lemongrass for each kilogram of live weight of the animals), and pedestrian tea (ration with 120 mg of essential oil of pedestrian tea for each kilogram of live weight of the animals). Storage was performed after slaughter and evaluated monthly for 4 months. Results: The inclusion of lemongrass oil and pedestrian tea in the broiler diet did not change the ether extract content of the meat sample obtained from thigh and drumstick. The storage time promotes an increase in the moisture loss of the meat from the 2nd month in all treatments. There was an interaction between the additive and storage time for moisture loss. In the 2nd month of storage, the meat from broilers fed the antibiotic-containing feed had a lower moisture loss than those from broilers in the other treatment groups. The fatty acid profile did not differ statistically between the different treatment groups. The inclusion of additives in the food dropped the lipid oxidation at the 2nd month of storage. From the 3rd month, however, only the essential oils showed antioxidant effect. Conclusion: Antioxidant activity was positive for treatments that included essential oils. The lemongrass oil and pedestrian tea can be used as antioxidant additives in broiler diets to improve the oxidative stability of thigh-drumstick meat during storage. The results of the study suggest a good prospective for further research with profitability of usage essentials oils examined, for their economical application as feed components in broiler nutrition.

In-feed antibiotics can influence intestinal microbial structures in born and early-life within a period. However, the impact of antibiotics on gut microbiota during long-term antibiotic-free and antibiotic breeding at porcine-fattening phase have not been studied extensively so far. Here, we conducted a systematic 16S rRNA gene sequencing-based study combined with metagenomic analysis to reveal the variation of diversity and function of gut microbiota between antibiotic-free (treatment group, TG) and antibiotic (a mixture of flavomycin and enramycin, control group, CG) breeding at various stages of fattening pigs. In the present study, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria phyla were the core microbiomes in fattening pig gut microbiota. The ratio between Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes significantly increased with age (P = 0.03). TG showed significantly higher relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Fibrobacteres phyla than CG. The microbial community can be divided into several notably clustered blocks based on cooperative and competitive correlations. These blocks centered on numerous special genera, which play essential roles in body development and disease prevention. TG showed obviously higher proportions of metabolic pathways related to metabolism, endocrine system, nervous system and excretory system, but pathways included carbohydrate metabolism and immune system diseases in CG. Collectively, this study has comprehensively demonstrated microbial diversities, differences and correlations among gut microbiota, microbial metabolism and gene functions during long-term antibiotic-free breeding. This work provides a novel resource and information with positive implications for pig husbandry production and disease prevention.

Organic acids have exhibited great potential as an antibiotic replacement and as an additive work tremendously for health maintenance of broiler chicken. To explore more about organic acids, a total of 900 day-old broiler chicks (Cobb-500) were procured from a local hatchery and distributed into 9 treatment groups having 5 replicates of 20 birds each; duration of the biological trial was of 35 days. Group T1 served as control group without any dietary supplementation. Other groups T2 and T3 were boosted with different levels (125 g/ton and 250 g/ton) of enramycin (antibiotic), T4, T5, and T6 were supplemented with different levels (2 kg/ton, 3 kg/ton, and 4 kg/ton) of ammonium formate and ammonium propionate, and T7, T8, and T9 were fed with different levels (2 kg/ton, 3 kg/ton, and 4 kg/ton) of calcium formate and calcium propionate. The findings declared significant improvement (P 0.05) in body weight gain and FCR in groups T3, T5, and T9 while feed intake was not affected. Carcass evaluation depicted significantly better (P 0.05) dressed and eviscerated weight along with carcass yield (T5, T7, T8, T9). Broilers fed organic acid supplemented diet had significantly lower (P 0.05) total bacterial count (T3, T5, T8, T9) and positively improved (P 0.05) villi length (T5, T6, T9) as compared with control group. However, total protein, globulin, HDL, and LDL levels were determined to be non-significant (P 0.05) among different organic acids treatments. Hence, organic acids can be utilized as a better replacement for antibiotics. Supplementation of organic acids at a dose rate of 3 kg/ton and 4 kg/ton is recommended for efficient performance of broilers.

Background Many countries are increasingly prohibiting the addition of antibiotics in livestock diets. Therefore, herb extracts have gradually drawn attention to substitute antibiotics. Our present study aimed to determine the effects of herbal extract mixture (HEM) in dietary on growth performance, organ weight, intestinal morphology and intestinal nutrient transporters in weaned pigs. Methods 27 piglets (Duroc × [Landrace × Yorkshire]; Body Weight (BW) = 5.99 ± 0.13 kg) were weaned at day 21 and randomly divided into three groups (n = 9 piglets/group). All piglets received a basal diet containing similar amounts of nutrients for 14 days. The three groups were the control (no additive), the antibiotics (375 mg/kg chlortetracycline, 20%, 500 mg/kg enramycin, 4%, 1,500 mg/kg oxytetracycline calcium, 50%) and the HEM group (1000 mg/kg extract mixture of golden-and-silver honeysuckle, huangqi, duzhong leaves and dangshen). After 14 d of treatment, we collected tissue samples to measure organ weight, intestinal parameters, intestinal morphology, digestive enzyme activities and intestinal mRNA expression of nutrient transporters. Results The HEM group had no effects on growth performance and organ weight of weaned pigs. But compared with the control group, both HEM and antibiotics improved intestinal morphology, and HEM elevated the expression of nutrient transporters in ileum (SLC6A9, SLC15A1, and SLC5A1). HEM significantly decreased the activities of maltase in ileum and the ratio of small intestinal weight to BW than control group. Conclusions These results indicate benefit effects of the supplementation of HEM in diet, including modulating intestinal morphology and increasing the mRNA expression of nutrients transporters. These findings suggest that HEM provides novel insights into a variety of herbal extract mixtures to replace antibiotics in animal production.

The present study investigated the effect of Bacillus subtilis DSM 29784 (Ba) and enzymes (xylanase and β-glucanases; Enz), alone or in combination (BE) as antibiotic replacements, on the growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, immune response and the intestinal barrier of broiler chickens. In total, 1200 1-d-old broilers were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments, each with six replicate pens of forty birds for 63 d as follows: (a) basal diet (control), supplemented with (b) 1 × 109 colony-forming units (cfu)/kg Ba, (c) 300 mg/kg Enz, (d) 1 × 109 cfu/kg Ba and 300 mg/kg Enz and (e) 250 mg/kg enramycin (ER). Ba, Enz and BE, similar to ER, decreased the feed conversion rate, maintained intestinal integrity with a higher villus height:crypt depth ratio and increased the numbers of goblet cells. The BE group exhibited higher expression of claudin-1 and mucin 2 than the other four groups. BE supplementation significantly increased the α-diversity and β-diversity of the intestinal microbiota and markedly enhanced lipase activity in the duodenal mucosa. Serum endotoxin was significantly decreased in the BE group. Compared with those in the control group, increased superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities were observed in the jejunal mucosa of the Ba and BE groups, respectively. In conclusion, the results suggested that dietary treatment with Ba, Enz or BE has beneficial effects on growth performance and anti-oxidative capacity, and BE had better effects than Ba or Enz alone on digestive enzyme activity and the intestinal microbiota. Ba or Enz could be used as an alternative to antibiotics for broiler chickens.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of protocatechuic acid (PCA) on the growth performance, meat quality, and intestinal health of Chinese yellow-feathered broilers. Growing broilers were fed the basal diet or diets supplemented with 300 or 600 mg/kg PCA, or 200 mg/kg enramycin for 52 D. We found that addition of 300 mg/kg PCA significantly increased body weight, live weight, and carcass weight and decreased the feed to gain ratio of broilers; PCA improved meat quality through reducing shear force, and increasing a* (relative redness) and decreasing b* (relative yellowness) at 24 h after slaughter. The activities of alkaline phosphatase and diamine oxidase in plasma were significantly decreased by administration of 300 mg/kg PCA; PCA also significantly increased total antioxidant capability and decreased malondialdehyde content and activity of xanthine oxidase in liver. Meanwhile, it enhanced activities of total superoxide dismutase, glutathione s-transferase, and glutathione peroxidase in the jejunal mucosa. Interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-β were significantly increased in jejunal mucosa and plasma of 300 mg/kg PCA diet group, whereas interluekin-2 and interferon-γ dropped dramatically. Moreover, relative expression of apoptosis-related genes decreased in liver, whereas that of intestinal barrier-related and immunity-related genes increased in jejunum. Furthermore, 300 mg/kg PCA treatment significantly changed α-diversity and structure of the cecal microflora in broilers, with increasing relative abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria while reducing Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. These results indicated that PCA improved the feed efficiency, growth performance, meat quality of broilers, and antioxidant capacity. It also enhanced intestinal immune function and improved the structure of intestinal flora to favor improved intestinal health in Chinese yellow-feathered broilers.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a combination diet of organic acids and essential oils on epithelial restitution, intestinal microflora, and volatile fatty acids in broiler chickens. A total of 144 1-day-old male chicks (Cobb 500) were allotted to 3 treatment groups consisting of 6 replicates with 8 birds per replicate. The dietary treatments were as follows: control group (CON, basal diet), antibiotics group (ANT, control + 0.15 g/kg enramycin), and addition group (EOA, control + 0.30 g/kg encapsulated organic acids and essential oils). Compared to the CON group, the EOA group showed a higher feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P0.05) at day 42. The ANT group showed the lowest count of Lactobacillus spp. (P0.05) and the highest count of Escherichia coli (P0.05) in the ileal digesta. Birds that were fed the EOA-supplemented diet had decreased populations of E. coli (P0.05). Compared with the ANT group, supplementation with EOA tended to reduce the pH of jejunal digesta (P = 0.079) and ileal digesta (P = 0.078) but significantly increased the concentration of butyric acid (P0.05) and tended to increase the concentrations of acetic acid (P = 0.087) and total short-chain fatty acids (SCFA; P = 0.098) in the ileal digesta. The EOA group showed higher sucrase and maltase activities of jejunal mucosa (P0.05) than those in the other groups. The EOA supplementation increased (P0.05) claudin-1 mRNA expression in the jejunum. Compared with the other groups, enramycin supplementation significantly reduced jejunal mucosa sIgA (P0.05) and down-regulated Mucin-2 and TLR2 mRNA relative expression (P0.05) in the jejunal mucosa of broiler chickens. Both EOA and enramycin contribute beneficially to FCR because of their antimicrobial action. EOA may reduce harmful bacteria and promote digestive enzyme activity and higher concentrations of SCFA. In contrast, enramycin may inhibit the growth of beneficial bacteria and reduce the need for intestinal mucosal barrier function.

This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that dietary supplementation with anti‐E. coli, chicken egg yolk immunoglobulins (IgY), may affect early weaned piglet (EWP) intestinal functions and enteric micro‐organisms. One hundred and forty‐eight ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) piglets, weaned at age day 21, were randomly assigned to receive one of three diets for 14 days. Treatment group one (control group) was fed the base diet. Treatment group two (antibiotics group) was fed the base diet which was supplemented with 100 ppm colistin sulphate and 15 ppm enramycin; treatment group three (IgY group) was fed the base diet which was supplemented with 500 mg/kg anti‐E. coli IgY. The study evaluated the effects on EWPs of IgY on growth, serum biochemical, inflammatory profiles and also digestion content intestinal bacterial populations. Results showed no significant difference in diarrhoea rates between IgY‐fed EWPs and antibiotic‐treated EWPs. Serum biochemical analysis showed that EWPs fed an IgY‐containing diet had both lower (p

The current study was designed to evaluate the effect of synbiotic and enramycin on the broiler immunity and growth performance. Ninety one-day old Cobb broiler chicks were randomly assigned into three groups (n=30) with three replicates each. The first control group fed basal diet only, the second group received basal diet plus enramycin (0.5g/kg), and the third group fed basal diet fortified with synbiotic (0.5g/kg) up to 42 days. The results revealed significant (P

The goal of the study was to test the effects of an antibiotic substitute, plectasin, on the growth performance, immune function, intestinal morphology and structure, intestinal microflora, ileal mucosal layer construction and tight junctions, ileal immune-related cytokines, and blood biochemical indices of yellow-feathered chickens. A total of 1,500 one-day-old yellow-feathered chicks were randomly divided into four dietary treatment groups with five replicates in each group and 75 yellow-feathered chicks in each replication, as follows: basal diet (group A); basal diet supplemented with 10 mg enramycin/kg of diet (group B), basal diet supplemented with 100 mg plectasin/kg of diet (group C), and basal diet supplemented with 200 mg plectasin/kg of diet (group D). It was found that the dietary antimicrobial peptide plectasin could improve the ADG and had better F/G for the overall period of 1–63 days. Dietary plectasin can enhance H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) antibody levels of yellow-feathered chickens at 21, and 35 days of age. Dietary plectasin can enhance the intestine structure, inhibit Escherichia coli and proinflammatory cytokines in the ileum, and ameliorate the blood biochemical indices of yellow-feathered chickens at 21 days of age. This study indicates that the antimicrobial peptide plectasin has beneficial effects on the growth performance, intestinal health and immune function of yellow-feathered chickens.

The present study evaluated the effect of administration of a water applied prebiotic on gut barrier failure (Experiment 1) and performance in broiler chickens under commercial conditions (Experiment 2). Experiment 1, one thousand four hundred and forty day-of-hatch Ross broiler chickens were assigned to one of two experimental groups (n = 30 replicate pens/treatment; n = 24 chicks/pen). Birds in the treated group received the prebiotic orally in the drinking water (0.2ml/bird) on days 3 and 17 of age. The second group served as the untreated control group. On d 18, intestinal samples were analyzed by qRT-PCR to determine the expression of MUC2, IL-8, TGF-β4, and ZO-1. On d 17, d 28, and d 35 blood samples were collected to determine circulating endotoxin levels. On d 28, mucosal intestinal scrapping was collected to measure relative total sIgA levels. At d 42, liver samples were collected to evaluate liver bacterial translocation. In Experiment 2, the prebiotic was evaluated in two commercial trials. Chickens were raised under normal production conditions and fed a 3-phase commercial basal diet with enramycin (7 g/ton). In Trial 1, 8,974,237 broiler chickens were treated with the prebiotic. The prebiotic was administered in the drinking water (0.2 mL/bird) following the manufacture label instructions at day three and seventeen of life. Production parameters were compared to historical information from the company over the same broiler operation and production cycles. For trial 2, 921,411 broiler chickens were treated with the prebiotic as in Trial 1. In Experiment 1, treated chickens showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in mRNA expression of MUC2, TGF-β4, IL-8, ZO-1, and sIgA, but a significant reduction of serum endotoxin levels and incidence of liver lactose positive bacterial translocation when compared to non-treated chickens. In both trials of Experiment 2, a significant reduction in total mortality was observed in the treated chickens when compared with the historical farm data. Economic analysis utilizing the total percent of mortality revealed a $1: $2.50 USD and $1: $4.17 USD return for Trial 1 and Trial 2, respectively. The results suggest that the prebiotic positively influences gastrointestinal integrity and performance.

Necrotic enteritis infection poses a serious threat to poultry production, and there is an urgent need for searching effective antibiotic alternatives to control it with the global ban on in-feed antibiotics. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary Bacillus licheniformis replacing enramycin on the growth performance and intestinal health of subclinical necrotic enteritis (SNE)-challenged broilers. In total, 504 1-day-old Arbor Acres male chickens were selected and subsequently assigned into three treatments, including PC (basal diet + SNE challenge), PA (basal diet extra 10 mg/kg enramycin + SNE challenge), and PG (basal diet extra 3.20 × 109 and 1.60 × 109 CFU B. licheniformis per kg diet during 1–21 days and 22–42 days, respectively + SNE challenge). Results showed that B. licheniformis significantly decreased the intestinal lesion scores and down-regulated the Claudin-3 mRNA levels in jejunum of SNE-infected broilers on day 25, but increased the mucin-2 gene expression in broilers on day 42. In addition, B. licheniformis significantly up-regulated the mRNA levels of TRIF and NF-κB of SNE-challenged broilers compared with the control group on day 25 and TLR-4, TRIF compared with the control and the antibiotic group on day 42. The mRNA expression of growth factors (GLP-2 and TGF-β2) and HSPs (HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90) were up-regulated in B. licheniformis supplementary group on days 25 and 42 compared with group PC. LEfSe analysis showed that the relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae_UCG_010 was enriched in the PG group; nevertheless, Clostridiales_vadinBB60 and Rnminococcaceae_NK4A214 were in PA. PICRUSt analysis found that the metabolism of cofactors and vitamins, amino acid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism pathways were enriched, whereas energy metabolism, membrane transport, cell motility, and lipid metabolism were suppressed in B. licheniformis-supplemented groups as compared with the PC control. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of B. licheniformis alleviated the intestinal damage caused by SNE challenge that coincided with modulating intestinal microflora structure and barrier function as well as regulating intestinal mucosal immune responses.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza (S.m.) aerial parts as an alternative ingredient on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and digestive enzymes in growing rabbits.Methods: Treatments included five tested diets: a control (basal diet), antibiotic (basal diet +enramycin at 5 mg/kg), and S.m. aerial parts powder added at 3.0%, 6.0%, and 9.0% of feed using 300 growing rabbits.Results: The diets with S.m. aerial parts addition at 9.0% decreased (p

The effects of either functional oil or antibiotic growth promoter supplementation on broiler breeders and their offspring were assessed in 2 experiments. In Experiment I, 16,400 broiler breeders (22 weeks old) were distributed into 2 experimental groups, one supplemented with 1,500 ppm of a commercial blend of functional oils (active ingredients: cashew nutshell liquid and castor oil) and the other with 500 ppm of bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD). Laying rates, fertility, embryonic mortality, and egg characteristics were measured from weeks 25 to 46. In Experiment II, 720 one day old male chicks, born from 42 week old breeders, from each one of the two treatments in Experiment I, were supplemented with either 10 ppm of enramycin or 1,500 ppm of the same functional oils as in Experiment I to study whether there were any maternal diet carry-over effects. Functional oils decreased embryonic mortality from 11.01% to 9.64% (P < 0.03) when compared to BMD. However, a functional oil link increase in egg weight did not result in either heavier chicks or statistically significant better offspring performance. Nonetheless, a possible benefit of the functional oil supplementation on the offspring weight at 42 d cannot be excluded. The type of additive supplemented during Experiment II did not affect any performance parameters. In conclusion, functional oils could successfully replace antibiotic growth promoters in broiler breeders as embryonic mortality decreased. Finally, when functional oils were supplemented to the offspring, the performance was similar to that of a commonly used antibiotic growth promoter.

Oyster mushroom waste (OMW) is a by-product of the agriculture industry with valuable antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal and prebiotic properties that may be a useful alternative to antibiotic growth stimulators in poultry nutrition. This experiment was conducted to examine the impact of OMW on the intestinal morphology and immune responses of broiler chickens. Four dietary therapies with 5 replicates of 15 birds in each, totalling 300 day- Ross 308 broiler chickens, were used in this experiment. Control chickens were fed a mixed diet that included a maize-soybean meal complemented by 1% and 2% OMW in addition to the basal diet. Furthermore, Enramycin [125 g/kg] was added to the control diet as an antibiotic. Throughout this experiment, performance was studied, as well as the immune response to the Newcastle Disease Virus [NDV] and intestinal morphological traits. A substantial surge was noted in body weight gain [BWG] and feed intake [FI] of chickens after the addition of 1% OMW [p ≤ 0.05]. In contrast, feed supplementation with 2% OMW, compared with the control diet, produced no noteworthy increase in BWG or the feed conversion rate [FCR]. In addition, total cholesterol decreased in the control group. Antibiotic addition, on the other hand, increased serum cholesterol [p ≤ 0.05]. After 42 days, neither OMW nor antibiotic addition affected organ mass. In contrast, antibiotic addition reduced the small intestine percentage, crypt depth and villus height [p ≤ 0.05]. The Newcastle disease vaccine [NDV] antibody titer improved after feed supplementation with 1% OMW in comparison with the control and antibiotic regimes. Furthermore, OMW supplementation decreased the heterophil-to-lymphocyte H/L ratio [p ≤ 0.05]. The use of OMW led to a reduction in the malondialdehyde [MDA] content of the breast and liver and an increase in glutathione peroxidase. It helped to reduce glutathione S-transferase, glutathione and glutathione reductase. The effects of OMW were dose-dependent. In conclusion, the use of 1% OMW in broiler diets enhanced their growth and immunity. Nonetheless, supplementation with 2% OMW produced conflicting results.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of a combination of essential oils, prebiotics and antibiotics on broiler production. The treatments consisted of a normal diet meeting the nutritional requirements, and diets with a 5% reduction of nutritional requirements, supplemented or not with antibiotics (En+Sal) (10 g ton-1 enramycin and 125 g ton-1 salinomycin) or a blend of essential oils (EOFOS) (oregano, anise and lemon) plus fructooligosaccharides (125 g ton-1). A total of 1,152 male one-day-old broilers were randomized by weight and distributed into a 2*3 factorial design, consisting of six treatments with each treatment containing eight replicates of 24 birds per experimental unit. The Student-Newman-Keuls test was performed at 5% probability. Broiler performance was evaluated at 10, 21 and 42 days, intestinal morphometry was evaluated at 21 days, microbiological cecum counts at 33 days, blood parameters at 35 days and carcass and cuts yield at 42 days of age. Broilers fed reduced diets had a reduction in performance (P < 0.05). There was an interaction (P < 0.05) between diet type and prebiotics for jejunum villus height and villus height:crypt depth ratios for all intestinal segments. There was no effect (P > 0.05) of growth promoters and diet type on the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium populations within the gastrointestinal tract. There were no differences for duodenum or ileum villus heights (P > 0.05). Broilers fed EOFOS showed higher villus height in the jejunum at 21 days. There were no effects on blood parameters of different diets and growth promoters (P > 0.05), nor on carcass and cuts yield, abdominal fat and relative liver weight (P > 0.05). Broilers receiving the normal diet with EOFOS showed higher villus height in the jejunum at 21 days when compared to the normal diet with antibiotics and the normal diet without growth promoters. However, there were no effects of growth promoters and diet type on broiler performance at 42 days. O objetivo com este estudo foi avaliar o uso de uma combinação de óleos essenciais, prebióticos e antibióticos na produção de frangos de corte. Os tratamentos consistiram em uma dieta normal que atende as exigências nutricionais e uma dieta com redução de 5% das exigências nutricionais suplementada ou não com antibióticos (En+Sal) (10 g ton-1 enramicina e 125 g ton-1 salinomicina) ou um blend de óleos essenciais (EOFOS) (orégano, anis e limão) + frutooligossacarídeos (125 g ton-1). Um total de 1.152 frangos machos de um dia de idade foram casualizados no peso e distribuídos em um arranjo fatorial 2*3, consistindo em seis tratamentos com cada tratamento contendo oito repetições de 24 aves por unidade experimental. Os dados foram analisados pelo SAS - Versão 9.1, o teste Student Newman Keuls foi realizado a 5% de probabilidade. Aos 10, 21 e 42 dias, avaliou-se o desempenho dos frangos, a morfometria intestinal aos 21 dias, contagem microbiológica de ceco aos 33 dias, parâmetros sanguíneos aos 35 dias e rendimento de carcaça e cortes aos 42 dias de idade. Os frangos alimentados com dietas com redução nas exigências apresentaram uma redução no desempenho (P < 0.05). Ocorreu interação (P < 0.05) entre tipo de dieta e promotores de crescimento para a altura de vilo no jejuno e para a relação vilo:cripta em todos os segmentos intestinais. Não ocorreu efeito dos promotores de crescimento e tipo de dieta na população de Lactobacillus e Bifidobactérias do trato gastrointestinal. Não ocorreu diferença na altura de vilos no duodeno (P > 0.05). Aves alimentadas com EOFOS demonstraram maior altura de vilos no jejuno aos 21 dias. Não houve efeitos nos parâmetros sanguíneos de diferentes dietas e promotores de crescimento (P > 0.05), nem no rendimento de carcaça e cortes, gordura abdominal e peso relativo do fígado (P > 0.05). Frangos de corte que receberam dieta normal com EOFOS apresentaram maior altura das vilosidades no jejuno aos 21 dias quando comparados à dieta normal com antibióticos e à dieta normal sem promotores de crescimento. Entretanto, não houve efeito dos promotores de crescimento e tipo de dieta no desempenho dos frangos aos 42 dias.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of recombinant plectasin (Ple) on the growth performance, intestinal health, and serum immune parameters in broilers. A total of 288 1-day-old male broilers (Arbor Acres) were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments including the basal diet (NC) and basal diet supplemented with 10 mg enramycin/kg (PC), 100 mg Ple/kg (LPle), and 200 mg Ple/kg (HPle) diets. The results indicated Ple increased (P

Antibiotics are commonly overused to reduce weaning stress that leads to economic loss in swine production. As potential substitutes of antibiotics, plant extracts have attracted the attention of researchers. However, one of the plant extracts, tannic acid (TA), has an adverse effect on the growth performance, palatability, and intestinal absorption in weaning piglets when used at a large amount. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of a proper dose of microencapsulated TA on the growth performance, organ and intestinal development, intestinal morphology, intestinal nutrient transporters, and colonic microbiota in weaning piglets. Forty-five Duroc × [Landrace × Yorkshire] (initial body weight = 5.99 ± 0.13 kg, weaned days = 21 d) piglets were randomly divided into five treatment groups (n = 9) and raised in 14 d. The piglets in the control group were raised on a basal diet; the piglets in the antibiotic test group were raised on a basal diet with three antibiotics (375 mg/kg Chlortetracycline 20%, 500 mg/kg Enramycin 4%, 1,500 mg/kg Oxytetracycline calcium 20%); and the other three groups were raised on a basal diet with three doses of microencapsulated TA (TA1, 500 mg/kg; TA2, 1,000 mg/kg; TA3, 1,500 mg/kg). All the piglets were raised in the same environment and given the same amount of nutrients for 2 wk. The results showed that both TA1 and TA2 groups had no adverse effect on the growth performance, organ weight and intestinal growth, and the pH value of gastrointestinal content. TA2 treatment improved the duodenal morphology (P < 0.05), increased the gene expression level of solute carrier family 6, member 19 and solute carrier family 15, member 1 (P < 0.05) in the ileum, and modulated the colonic bacteria composition (P < 0.05), but inhibited the activity of maltase in the ileum (P < 0.05) and the jejunal gene expression level of solute carrier family 5, member 1 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our study suggests that a dosage between 500 and 1,000 mg/kg of microencapsulated TA is safe to be included in the swine diet and that 1,000 mg/kg of microencapsulated TA has beneficial effects on intestinal morphology, intestinal nutrient transporter, and intestinal microbiota in weaning piglets. These findings provide new insights into suitable alternatives to antibiotics for improving growth performance and colonic microbiota.

The aim of the experiment was to study the effects of feeding blends of sorbic acid, fumaric acid, and thymol (EOA) on growth performance, digestive functions, and immunity of broiler chickens. A total of 640 one-day-old male Cobb 500 chicks with similar BW (41.8 ± 0.6 g) were randomly divided into 4 dietary treatment groups consisting of 10 replicates with 16 birds per replicate and fed a basal diet until d 42 (CON) or diets with 0.15 g/kg enramycin during the grower period (AG), 0.30 g/kg EOA during the grower period (EG), or 0.30 g/kg EOA during the finisher period (EF). At d 42, the feed conversion ratio was reduced (P

The growing restriction of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) use in farming animals has raised a concern regarding the viability of the animal production system. In this new context, feed additives with proven positive impact on intestinal health may be used as strategy to avoid losses on performance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a protected blend of organic acids and essential oils [P(OA+EO)] on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal health of broiler chickens. A total of 1,080 Cobb × Cobb 500 male broilers were randomly distributed in four treatments with 10 replicates (27 birds/each). Treatments were as follow: non-challenged control; challenged control; AGP (enramycin at 10 g/t); and P(OA+EO) at 300 g/t. All birds on challenged groups were challenged with Eimeria spp. at 1 day and with Clostridium perfringens at 11, 12, and 13 days. Body weight gain (BWG), feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were evaluated until 42 days. At 17 days, one bird per pen was orally gavaged with fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-d) and blood samples were collected for FITC-d detection to assess intestinal permeability. At 21 days, apparent ileal nutrient and energy (IDE) digestibility, intestinal macroscopic and histologic alterations (ISI) and, expression of mucin2 (MUC2), claudin1 (CLDN1), and occludin (OCLN) genes in the jejunum were evaluated. From 1 to 42 days, birds from the non-challenged and P(OA+EO) groups had greater (P < 0.001) BWG compared to challenged control and AGP groups. The challenged control group presented the worst FCR (P < 0.001). IDE was 106 kcal/kg greater when broilers were fed P(OA+EO) compared to the challenged control group. Broilers supplemented with P(OA+EO) had improved intestinal integrity with lower blood FITC-d concentration and ISI scores, and greater expression of MUC2, CLDN1, and OCLN genes compared to the challenged control group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the P(OA+EO) and the AGP led to increased growth performance, nutrient digestibility and intestinal health of challenged broilers. A marked difference occurred in favor of the P(OA+EO), suggesting that this blend may be used to improve intestinal health and broiler growth performance in AGP free programs.

A liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) method was developed and validated for the determination of residual peptide antibiotics (bacitracin A, colistin A and B, enramycin A and B, virginiamycin M1 and S1) in bovine milk. LC-HRMS accurate mass data provided the necessary selectivity and sensitivity to quantitate and identify these important antibiotics in milk at residue levels without extensive sample preparation. Milk samples were extracted using 0.3% formic acid in acetonitrile with 0.06% trifluoroacetic acid added to improve peptide recoveries. Sample clean-up was minimal with an aliquot of the extract evaporated and reconstituted in a formic acid/water-acetonitrile mixture and then filtered. LC separation was performed with 0.3% formic acid in the gradient to improve the peak shape and reproducibility of the peptide analytes. A Quadruple-Orbitrap HRMS instrument with full-scan MS1 data collection followed by all-ion-fragmentation was used to obtain the exact mass of the precursor and confirmatory product ions. One advantage of LC-HRMS is that a combination of multiple precursor ions, including different charge states or adducts, can be used for quantification. The method was validated at four concentration levels ranging from 12.5 to 200 ng/g in three types of bovine milk. For bacitracin A, colistins and enramycins, the average recoveries compared to solvent standards ranged between 70% and 120%. Average recoveries for virginiamycin residues in milk extracts were unacceptably high (up to 138%) using solvent standards, but recoveries using matrix-matched calibration were determined to be 90-115%. Matrix effects were found to be less than 25% for the other analytes when internal standard correction was used for the colistins. Intra-day relative standard deviations were generally below 15%. The method detection limits for the peptide antibiotic residues in milk (0.5 to 5.5 ng/g) were well below regulatory levels of concern.

This study investigated the effects of Bacillus licheniformis–fermented products on the growth performance and fecal microbial community of broilers. A total of 144 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned into 4 dietary treatments, with 6 replicate cages per treatment and 6 birds per cage. The dietary treatments comprised a basal diet as control, control plus 1 and 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis–fermented products, and control plus 10 mg/kg of enramycin. The results indicated that 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis–fermented products increased (P

Organic acids have stood out as alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters, especially those extracted from plants, such as anacardic acid, which is present in cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL). This study evaluates the effects of CNSL as a source of anacardic acid in diets of laying hens on performance, egg quality, lipid stability of yolk and microbiological analysis of excreta. A total of 216 commercial Hisex White laying hens were housed in cages and distributed in a completely randomized design with six treatments and six replicates of six birds per treatment. Treatments consisted of a diet without antibiotic growth promoter (AGP); diet with AGP (Halquinol 60% at 0.1 g/kg and Enramycin 8% at 0.1 g/kg); and four diets without AGP and with the inclusion of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 g/kg CNSL. No effects of dietary addition of AGP and CNSL were observed in bird performance and external quality of eggs. A quadratic effect was observed for lipid oxidation in egg yolk, the minimum value of which was found at 5.8 g/kg CNSL. There were no significant effects of treatments on total mesophilic, total coliform and thermotolerant coliform counts on excreta. In conclusion, adding up to 10.0 g/kg of CNSL as source of anacardic acid in laying hen diet did not influence performance or egg quality, but the addition from 7.5 g/kg of CNSL upwards reduced lipid oxidation and improved the yolk colour. Keywords: Anacardium occidentale , lipid oxidation, natural antioxidant, organic acid

This study investigated the influence of Bacillus-based probiotics on performance and intestinal health in broiler challenged with Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis. One-day-old Arbor Acre (n = 480) were randomly assigned to four treatments with 10 cages of 12 birds: (a) basal diet negative control (NC), with no probiotics nor antibiotics formulated to contain 2,930 and 3,060 kcal/kg with 24.07 and 15.98% CP, for starter and finisher diet, respectively, (b) basal diet + enramycin (5 mg/kg), an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP); (c) basal diet + Bacillus subtilis B21 at 2 × 109 CFU per g (BS); (d) basal diet + Bacillus licheniformis B26 at 2 × 109 CFU per g (BL); growth performance, intestinal morphology, intestinal lesion scores, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and mucosal barrier tight junction's (TJ) mRNA expression were assessed. NC- and BL-fed groups showed higher (p = 0.005) average daily feed intake from d1 to d21 than AGP and BS, whereas BS- and AGP-fed groups showed higher average daily weight gain from d22 to d42 and d1 to d42 of age. Higher mortality rate of (12.5%) and lower of (5.5%) were recorded in AGP and NC fed-groups respectively, lesion score was higher in BS and BL than in AGP, while no lesion was observed in NC group, results revealed higher duodenum and jejunum villus height to crypt depth (VH:CD) compared with NC and BS. Probiotics-fed groups showed higher total (SCFAs), acetic and butyric acid concentrations at d21 post-challenge (PC) than other groups. The expression of claudin-1 was upregulated in duodenum (d7) PC and in jejunum (d7) and (d21) PC in BL group, while at d21 PC, the expression of occludens was higher in jejunum and ileum by AGP and BL. The present study indicated both BS and BL have some similarity with AGP in preventing or partially preventing NE effect in broilers.

Antimicrobials are included in commercial animal feed rations in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We measured antimicrobial use (AMU) in commercial feed products consumed by 338 small-scale chicken flocks in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, before a gradual nationwide ban on prophylactic use of antimicrobials (including in commercial feeds) to be introduced in the country over the coming five years. We inspected the labels of commercial feeds and calculated amounts of antimicrobial active ingredients (AAIs) given to flocks. We framed these results in the context of overall AMU in chicken production, and highlighted those products that did not comply with Government regulations. Thirty-five of 99 (35.3%) different antimicrobial-containing feed products included at least one AAI. Eight different AAIs (avilamycin, bacitracin, chlortetracycline, colistin, enramycin, flavomycin, oxytetracycline, virginamycin) belonging to five classes were identified. Brooding feeds contained antimicrobials the most (60.0%), followed by grower (40.9%) and finisher feeds (20.0%). Quantitatively, chlortetracycline was consumed most (42.2 mg/kg SEM ±0.34; 50.0% of total use), followed by enramycin (18.4 mg/kg SEM ±0.03, 21.8%), bacitracin (16.4 mg/kg SEM ±0.20, 19.4%) and colistin (6.40 mg/kg SEM ± 4.21;7.6%). Other antimicrobials consumed were virgianamycin, avilamycin, flavomycin and oxytetracycline (each ≤0.50 mg/kg). Antimicrobials in commercial feeds were more commonly given to flocks in the earlier part of the production cycle. A total of 10 (9.3%) products were not compliant with existing Vietnamese regulation (06/2016/TT-BNNPTNT) either because they included a non-authorised AAI (4), had AAIs over the permitted limits (4), or both (2). A number of commercial feed formulations examined included colistin (polymyxin E), a critically important antimicrobial of highest priority for human medicine. These results illustrate the challenges for effective implementation and enforcement of restrictions of antimicrobials in commercial feeds in LMICs. Results from this study should help encourage discussion about policies on medicated feeds in LMICs.

Three experiments were conducted to assess the response of weaned pigs to organic acid SF3, which contains 34% calcium formate, 16% calcium lactate, 7% citric acid and 13% medium chain fatty acids. Dietary treatments had no effect on growth performance of piglets (21-day weaning) fed the commercial prestart diet for 1 week before receiving the experimental diets supplemented with SF3 at 0, 3 or 5 g/kg diet (Exp. 1), whereas diarrhea frequency averaged across a week was decreased by SF3 supplementation (5 g/kg diet) in piglets fed the experimental diets immediately after weaning (Exp. 2). In Exp. 3, piglets (28-day weaning) were fed the control (containing pure colistin sulfate and enramycin, respectively, at 20 mg/kg diet) for 1 week and then were fed the control or SF3-supplemented (5 g/kg diet) diet for 2 weeks. The SF3-fed piglets had greater apparent ileal digestibility of calcium and dry matter, while also demonstrating greater overall gross energy, up-regulated jejunal expression of sodium-glucose cotransporter-1 and transforming growth factor-β, down-regulated jejunal expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, higher ileal Lactobacillus, with lower total bacteria content, lower plasma TNF-α but higher IgG levels than the control-fed piglets. Collectively, SF3 consumption improved diarrhea resistance of weaned pigs by improving nutrient digestibility, piglet immunity and intestinal bacteria profile. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

The effects of Flavomycin, Bacillus licheniformis and Enramycin on broiler performance, nutrient digestibility, gut morphology and the intestinal microflora were studied in a 42-d experiment. A total of 288, one-day-old, male, Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments with 12 pens per treatment and 6 birds per pen. The treatments were comprised of a control diet without supplementation, a diet supplemented with 5 ppm Flavomycin, a diet supplemented with the combination of 5 ppm Flavomycin and 1.35 × 109 CFU/kg Bacillus licheniformis, as well as a diet supplemented with 5 ppm Enramycin. The average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of birds fed the diet with Flavomycin combined with Bacillus licheniformis and the Enramycin diet were improved (P

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate effects of dietary solid mixture of organic acids and medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) as a replacement of zinc oxide (ZnO) on growth, digestibility and immunity of weanling pigs. In Exp. 1, the diet with supplemental antibiotics (containing pure Colistin sulfate and Enramycin, respectively, at 0.02 g/kg diet) and ZnO (2.5 g/kg diet) was used as the control (CON) group, and another diet without supplemental ZnO was prepared by inclusion of the SF3 (containing calcium formate, calcium lactate, citric acid and MCFA at 340, 160, 70 and 130 g/kg, respectively) at 3 g/kg diet. A total of 120 crossbred piglets (21-day old, 6.36 ± 0.80 kg) were fed the same commercial prestart diet for one week and then fed the CON or SF3 diet for four weeks (ZnO was no longer supplemented in the CON diet during the second two-weeks), with 6 replicate pens (10 piglets/pen) per diet. Compared with the CON-fed piglets, the SF3-fed piglets had higher ( P P P P P P P Lactobacillus content, and upregulated ( P P Lactobacillus following organic acids consumption.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a blend of organic acids (OAs) in diets with or without antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) in chickens challenged with Clostridium perfringens. Day-old male broiler chicks were used in a trial with 4 treatments and 6 replicates of 50 birds per pen, for 43 days, in a completely randomized design. The treatments in a 2×2 factorial arrangement consisted of the presence or absence of enramycin (AGP) and of a blend of OA in the feed. All birds were inoculated at 7 days of age with an anticoccidial vaccine in the drinking water; on days 14, 15, and 16, they were inoculated with C. perfringens in the feed. OA improved weight gain, body weight, and feed intake in the periods 1–7 days and 1–21 days in chicks without antibiotic supplementation. The AGP had the main effect of increasing weight gain and body weight at 35 d; the OA increased weight gain, body weight, and feed intake at 43 days of age. The birds supplemented with OA without AGP had a higher number of CD3+ cells in the ileum mucosa and lower crypt depth than birds supplemented with both OA and antibiotic at 7 days. At 21 days of age, birds fed OA without AGP had higher villus height and a larger villus/crypt ratio; however, there were no differences in the CD3+ cells in the ileal mucosa. The use of OA was beneficial for weight gain and AGP for feed conversion, and the combination of OA and AGP brings complementary advantages in production.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium butyricum and Lactobacillus acidophilus (tri-strain probiotics, TSP) endospores in broilers. TSP can benefit the host animal by increasing nutrient absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and altering the intestinal ecosystem in poul - try. A total of 500 day-old ROSS 308 mixed sex broiler chickens with an average initial body weight (IBW) of 45 g ± 0.6 g were used in this 35-day feeding study. Broiler chickens were randomly allotted to one of five dietary treatments: (1) CON (antibiotic free diet), (2) ANT1 (CON + enramycin 5 ppm), (3) ANT2 (CON + avilamycin 5 ppm), (4) TSP1 (CON + 0.1% TSP), and (5) TSP2 (CON + 0.2% TSP) with five replicates per treatment and 20 chicks per pen. Broiler chickens fed on TSP diets exhibited linearly increasing body weight gain (BWG) and decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to those on the CON diet ( P < 0.05; Day 21 to Day 35 and Day 1 to Day 35, respectively). Further, dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) digestibility were improved ( P < 0.05) in the L*) compared with CON and ANT treatments. Broiler chickens fed with TSP diets had relatively higher (linear, P < 0.05) bursa weight than those fed with ANT and CON diets. The supplementation of TSP increased ( P < 0.05) the ileal and caecal Lactobacillus count compared with CON and ANT diets. The ileal and caecal Escherichia coli and caecal Clostridium perfringens counts were reduced ( P < 0.05) in the TSP2 group compared with the CON group. Broiler chickens fed with TSP diets exhibited increased ( P < 0.05) caecal Bifidobacteria counts compared with CON and ANT diets. Excreta ammonia (NH 3 ) gas emission was lower ( P < 0.05) with the TSP treatment compared with the CON treatment. In conclusion, the supplementation of TSP improved growth performance, nutrient digestibility, meat quality, gut health and reduced noxious gas emission in broilers.

This experiment investigated the effects of dietary glucose oxidase (GOD) and its combination with B. amyloliquefaciens SC06 (BaSC06) on the growth performance, meat quality, intestinal physical barrier, antioxidative status and immunity of male Lingnan yellow-feathered broilers. A total of 720 1-d-old broilers were assigned into 4 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment (30 birds per replicate): (1) basal diet (Ctr), (2) basal diet with 200 mg/kg enramycin (ER), (3) basal diet with 75 U/kg GOD, and (4) GOD diet (75U/kg) supplemented with 1 × 105 colony-forming units BaSC06/kg feed (GB), for an experimental duration of 52 d. The results showed that there were no significant effects of GOD or GB on growth performance of birds. The shear force and drip loss of breast muscle of birds fed GOD and GB were less than those fed ER, while the shear force in GB significantly decreased compared to Ctr. Also, both GOD and GB treatment increased about 1-fold expression of ZO-1, Claudin-1, Occludin, and MUC-2 genes in jejunal mucosa compared to Ctr, no difference was found between GOD and GB. Compared to Ctr, serum total antioxidant capability and glutathione peroxidase in GOD and GB increased, while the malondialdehyde level and xanthine oxidase activity significantly decreased. Both GOD and GB treatments reduced the relative level of HO-1, p53, and BAX transcripts in liver. It is worth noting that GB decreased transcription of p53 and Bcl-2 by 76.11% and 50.19% compared to GOD, respectively. In addition, compared to Ctr, GOD and GB markedly increased serum IL-2 content by 110% and 182%, while decreased IFN-γ by 43.57% and 57.51%, respectively. The highest sIgA level in GB was found among four groups. In conclusion, dietary treatment with GOD and its combination with BaSC06 both had beneficial effects on shear force and drip loss, expression of intestinal tight junctions, antioxidative capacity and immune function. It is suggested that GB had better effect than GOD on anti-apoptosis.

The maintenance of integrity of the gastrointestinal tract is an important aspect for animal productivity, since it is able to absorb nutrients more efficiently and serves as a barrier against microorganisms. To control agents detrimental to intestinal integrity, growth-promoting antibiotics (AGP) are used, which reduce the number of toxin-producing microorganisms in the intestinal lumen, acting as anti-inflammatory agents. There is a demand for restriction of use of AGP in animal feed, but there are few studies showing what parameters we should observe to search for alternative additives. The aim of this study was to establish histological parameters that explain the effect of enramycin as growth promoter on intestinal health in broilers challenged with Eimeria and Clostridium perfringens. The zootechnical performance and the histology by I See Inside (ISI) methodology were evaluated on liver and ileum samples. Chickens challenged without AGP have the worst BWG, FCR, and histological ISI score (ISI score 9) in the ileum compared to non-challenged (ISI score 5). The use of enramycin on challenged group significantly minimized the ISI score in the ileum at 21 and 28 d (ISI score 7.4 and 8.0, respectively) compared with the challenged group not fed with enramycin (ISI score 9.2 and 9.9, respectively), associated with reduced lamina propria thickness and inflammatory cell infiltration. We suggest these 2 histological parameters as a standard to compare products for gut health.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of Korean aged garlic extract (AGE) by Leukonostoc citreum SK2556 on growth performance, hematological status, meat quality, cecal microbiota and excreta gas emission in broilers. A total of 765-day old mixed sex ROSS 308 broiler chicks (body weight of 36.65 ± 0.10 g) were randomly allotted to five treatments with nine replications per treatment and 17 chicks per pen. The experiment lasted for 5 weeks and dietary treatments were as follows: (1) NC (negative control, basal diet without antibiotics); (2) PC (positive control, basal diet + 5 ppm enramycin); (3) AGE1 (basal diet + 0.5 g aged garlic extract/kg basal diet); (4) AGE2 (basal diet + 1 g aged garlic extract/kg basal diet); (5) AGE3 (basal diet + 2 g aged garlic extract/kg basal diet). Broilers fed with AGE2 treatment showed higher (linear, P=0.02) body weight gain (BWG) compared with NC treatment (910 vs. 842 g) from day 15 to day 28. During this time, feed conversion ratio (FCR) was higher (linear, P

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Bacillus subtilis UBT-MO 2 on growth performance, relative immune organ weight, gas concentration in excreta, and intestinal microbial shedding in broiler chickens. A total of 480 1-d-old mixed sex broilers were randomly allotted to a 2×2 factorial arrangement of treatments with 2 levels of enramycin (0 or 5 ppm) and B. subtilis (0 or 10 5 cfu/kg) for 35 d. Each treatment had 6 replicate pens with 20 broilers in each pen. Diets were fed in 2 phases: starter phase (from d 0 to 21) and grower phase (from d 22 to 35). Overall, broilers fed diets supplemented with B. subtilis had 4.4% greater ( P =0.01) body weight gain than those fed non-probiotic diets. The feed conversion ratio in broilers fed diets containing enramycin was decreased by 2.8% and 4.2% during d 0–21 ( P =0.05) and throughout the experimental period ( P =0.02), respectively, than those fed diets without antibiotic. Broilers fed B. subtilis diets had 30.9% greater ( P =0.02) relative weight of thymus than those fed diets without probiotic. Dietary supplementation with B. subtilis resulted in 26.9% and 37.9% lower ( P =0.03) NH 3 and H 2 S concentrations, respectively, in excreta compared with no supplementation. However, no differences were observed in intestinal bacterial concentrations among treatments. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 10 5 cfu/kg of B. subtilis could improve the growth performance of broiler chickens, and reduced NH 3 and H 2 S emissions.