Physiological and health response of broiler chickens treated with a probiotic additive
Abstract
The aim was to determine the physiological and health response of broiler chickens treated with a probiotic additive. The experiment was carried out on an experimental poultry farm of Cevallos (Tungurahua, Ecuador), with 100 Cobb500 chickens, of both sexes, 1 day old and 41± 2 of live weight. The birds were distributed according to a completely randomized design in two treatments with five repetitions: control (T0) and 0.2 % of additive (T1). Each repetition was considered an experimental unit composed of 10 birds. In the evaluation of additive, eight animals per treatment are randomly selected, and morpho- physiological, histological and health indicators were determined. The relative weight of the small intestine of birds at 15 days of age to increase with the use of 0.2 % of the additive (53.15 vs. 56.91 g.kg- ¹; P = 0,0081). This effect was also found for the ceca at 15 and 50 days and the thymus at 15 days (3.22 vs. 4.77 g.kg-¹; P = 0,0005). Furthermore, at 50 days with the additive, the height and width of the villi, the villus height:crista depth ratio (4.19 vs. 5.25; P = 0.0473) and the absorptive surface area of the duodenum villi (0.68 vs. 1.04 mm²; P = 0.0006) increased, while the concentration of IgM was higher at 15 and 50 days. Beneficial variations were also observed in blood indicators such as total proteins, albumins and albumin/globulin ratio (P < 0.05). The results showed that the additive under study produces beneficial effects on the morphology of internal organs, modulates the immune response and improves intestinal health, which stimulates digestion and nutrient absorption. Therefore, it is demonstrated that the additive produced probiotic activity and could be used in poultry production.
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