Occurrence of selected bacterial groups in the faeces of piglets fed with Bacillus coagulans as probiotic

A microbiological analysis of piglet faeces was performed on samples collec ted from animals fed a diet without any additive, animals fed a diet that c ontained Bacillus coagulans CNCM I-1061 as probiotic, and animals fed a die t that contained Zn-bacitracin. The analysis was carried out in concurrence with a zootechnical trial. Selected bacterial groups (lactic acid bacteria , lactococci, enterococci, aerobic and anaerobic cocci, total and faecal co liforms, clostridia, bacteroides, bifidobacteria) were determined at day 1 and after 1, 4 and 10 weeks of life. Numbers of enterococci, coliforms (esp ecially faecal coliforms) showed a decrease over time with probiotic, more evident than with the antibiotic. Daily administration of B. coagulans allo wed this bacterium to become integrated into the enteric microflora where i t is transient These results seem to show a positive effect of B. coagulans addition on cocci and faecal coliforms. We suggest that this probiotic may represent an alternative to antibiotics.