Effects of antibacterial peptide microcin J25 on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, intestinal barrier function and intestinal microbiota in pigeon squabs

The present study aims to evaluate the effects of the antibacterial peptide Microcin J25 (ABP MccJ25) on growth performance, intestinal barrier function, antioxidant capacity and ileal microbiota in pigeon squabs. The 80 pairs of American Silver King pigeon parents and 240 healthy day 1 squabs were randomly divided into four groups, including 4 parent pairs and 12 pigeon squabs per group with 5 replicates. Parent pigeons were fed a basal diet (CON) or the addition of 100, 200, 300 mg/kg of ABP MccJ25 (ABP100, ABP200, and ABP300, respectively) for 4 weeks. Results showed that the group ABP200 remarkably reduced the feed conversion ratio and increased average daily gain in pigeon squabs from 7 to 21 d (p