Influence of supplementation of prebiotic, probiotic, and antibiotic to wet-fed wheat-based diets on growth, ileal nutrient digestibility, blood parameters, and gastrointestinal characteristics of broiler chickens

A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementations of prebiotic, probiotic, and antibiotic to wet wheat-based diets on broiler performance, carcass yield, organ weights, and histomorphological measurements of the small intestine. One hundred and sixty-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments for 6 weeks. The dietary treatments were: (1) control (1. 2 g water/gram of dry feed); (2) control diet supplemented with antibiotic (15 mg/kg of virginiamycin); (3) control diet supplemented with 1 g/kg probiotic (8 × 105 colony forming units (CFU) of Bacillus subtilis/gram); and (4) control diet supplemented with 1 g/kg prebiotic (Aspergillus sp. meal). The body weight and feed intake were significantly (P < 0. 05) increased by the dietary inclusion of the antibiotic compared with the control and pre- and probiotics-fed broilers. Moreover, an improvement in performance traits was observed in broilers fed with the pre- and probiotics. Relative abdominal fat weight was significantly (P < 0. 01) greater for the broilers fed diets containing antibiotic than control diets. Protein digestibility was significantly higher (P < 0. 05) for birds supplemented with virginiamycin compared with the control and prebiotic birds. The addition of either pre- or probiotic increased (P < 0. 05) the villus height/crypt depth ratio and villus height in both duodenum and ileum. However, the ileal crypt depth was significantly increased for pro- and prebiotic supplementations compared with antibiotic (P < 0. 05). © 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited.