ORIGINAL PAPER
A note on the effects of selected prebiotics on
the performance and ileal microbiota of broiler
chickens
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Poznań University of Life Sciences, Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Management
Wołyńska 33, 60-637 Poznań, Poland
Publication date: 2008-06-24
Corresponding author
D. Józefiak
Poznań University of Life Sciences, Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Management
Wołyńska 33, 60-637 Poznań, Poland
J. Anim. Feed Sci. 2008;17(3):392-397
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The objective of the experiment was to study the influence of lactose, inulin, and modified
β-glucan as additives to maize-based diets on the performance of broiler chickens, as well as on
the pH in the crop, gizzard, ileum, caeca and on populations of selected ileal microflora species.
Over the entire experimental period (day 1 - day 42), the animals (384 male broilers, 4 treatments,
12 replicates of 8 birds per treatment) were offered maize-based diets. The diets were fed
either without any supplementation (control diet), or with a supplement of either 0.025% modified
β-glucan, 0.3% inulin, or 0.2% purified lactose. Body weight gain decreased (P<0.05) and feed
conversion ratio worsened (P<0.05) in birds fed diets with supplements in comparison with the nonsupplemented
control group. The counts of lactic acid bacteria in ileal digesta were lower (P<0.05)
in birds supplemented with lactose. No difference between the dietary treatments was observed
regarding the population of intestinal coliform bacteria.
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