Effects of Dietary Bacillus-based Probiotic on Growth Performance, Nutrients Digestibility, Blood Characteristics and Fecal Noxious Gas Content in Finishing Pigs

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementation with bacillus-based probiotic (Bacillus subtilis, 1.0×10 7 CFU/g; Bacillus coagulans, 2.0×10 6 CFU/g and Lactobacillus acidophilus, 5.0×10 6 CFU/g) on finishing pigs growth performance, nutrients digestibility, blood characteristics and fecal noxious gas content and to determine the optimal addition level of this probiotic preparation. A total of forty eight pigs with an initial body weight (BW) of 90.60±2.94 kg were allotted to three dietary treatments (four pigs per pen with four pens per treatment) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatment included: 1) CON (basal diet); 2) BP1 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.1%) and 3) BP2 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.2%). The experiment lasted 6 weeks. Through the entire experimental period, ADG was improved by 11% (p 0.05). Supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic did not affect either DM and N digestibilities or blood characteristics (p>0.05) of pigs. Fecal ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) measured at the end of experiment was reduced (p 0.05) when pigs were fed diets with added bacillus-based probiotic. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic can increase growth performance and decrease fecal noxious gas content concentration. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2006. Vol 19, No. 4 : 587-592)