EFFECTS OF ADHERENT LACTOBACILLUS CULTURES ON GROWTH, WEIGHT OF ORGANS AND INTESTINAL MICROFLORA AND VOLATILE FATTY-ACIDS IN BROILERS

A total of 180 I-day old Arbor Acres chicks was used to investigate th e effects of a single L. acidophilus I 26 strain or a mixture of 12 La ctobacillus cultures on the production performance, weight of organs, and intestinal microflora and VFA of broilers. The chicks were assigne d randomly into three groups with 60 chicks per treatment. The three d ietary treatments were: (i) basal diet (acted as control); (ii) basal diet + 1 g kg(-1) L. acidophilus I 26; and (iii) basal diet + 1 g kg-l mixture of 12 Lactobacillus strains. The results showed that the addi tion of either a single L. acidophilus I 26 strain or a mixture of 12 Lactobacillus cultures to the basal diet increased significantly (P < 0.05) the body weight and feed:gain ratio of broilers for 0-6 weeks. S upplementing the Lactobacillus cultures, singly or in a mixture, in th e diet of broilers also decreased significantly (P < 0.05) the numbers of coliforms in the cecum 10 and 20 days after feeding, increased sig nificantly (P < 0.05) the total VFA in the ileum and cecum, and lowere d the cecal pH values. However, the addition of the Lactobacillus cult ures in the diets did not increase significantly the lactobacilli popu lation in the ileum and cecum of broilers, except for 30 days after fe eding. There were also no significant differences in the populations o f total anaerobes, total aerobes, Bifidobacteria and Streptococcus in the ileal and cecal contents of chickens fed with or without Lactobaci llus cultures, No significant differences were found in the weight of the liver, spleen, bursa, gizzard, duodenum, jeju-ileum and total smal l intestine of broilers given the different dietary treatments. (C) 19 98 Elsevier Science B.V.