Effects of Different Sources of Probiotics on Performance, Carcass, Intestinal Morphology and Bone Characteristics in Broiler Chickens

The type of microorganisms in probiotic products is the considerable factor on the effectiveness of probiotics. An experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of different sources of probiotics on broiler performance, carcass variables, intestinal morphology and bone indices. A total of two hundred and eighty-eight one-day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks were allocated into the three experimental groups with eight replications of 12 chicks each. The treatments were a basal diet (control) and a control diet supplemented with lactic acid bacteria (LABP) or Bacillus strains (BPS) probiotics. The birds were fed the respective diets from 1 to 42 days of age. Dietary treatments had no significant effect on the performance variables. The jejunal villus length and surface area increased (P 0.05) in the birds which received LABP or BPS compared to the control group. The ileal villus length, width, surface area and villus length to crypt depth were greater (P 0.05) in broiler chicks fed with BPS than the other groups. Supplement to diet with LABP increased (P 0.05) tibia strength and phosphorous compared with BPS, LABP did not affect phosphorus compared with control, BPS reduced (P 0.05) phosphorus content in the tibia compared with the control. The serum concentration of glucose and total protein were greater (P 0.05) in the birds received BPS compared to control group. It can be concluded that supplementation of LABP or BPS probiotics in the diet had beneficial effects on Jejunum villi length and surface area and bone strength, but not performance variables in broiler chickens.