Beneficial effect of Bacillus coagulans DSM 32016 on performance and productivity of broiler breeders

The worldwide application of antibiotic growth promotors in the last decades in animal production at least partly contributed to the global pool of multiantibiotic-resistant bacteria causing hardly treatable and severe human but also veterinarian infectious diseases. These circumstances prompted the development of alternative strategies to replace antibiotic growth promotors without losses in animal performance. Among other feed additives, health-beneficial live microorganisms (often designated as probiotics or gut microbiota stabilizers) became promising parts of such alternative approaches. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Bacillus coagulans DSM 32016 (1×109 CFU/kg of diet) on the performance of broiler breeder (Arbor Acres). Broiler breeder hens (Arbor Acres; n=240) at the age of 22 weeks were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 dietary treatments with 12 replicates of 10 birds each, in a completely randomized design. Supplementation of the diet with Bacillus coagulans DSM 32016 increased the number of produced eggs, the number of produced settable eggs, egg yolk weight and eggshell thickness (P≤0.05). The probiotic supplementation reduced the mortality rate, enhanced egg hatchability, and increased the egg production-based economic profit. Thus, Bacillus coagulans DSM 32016 can be considered as performance-enhancing zootechnical feed additive for broiler breeders.