Evaluation of Anherbal Compound, a Commercial Probiotic, and an Antibiotic Growth Promoter on the Performance, Intestinal Bacterial Population, Antibody Titers, and Morphology of the Jejunum and Ileum of broilers

ABSTRACT The current study was conducted to examine the effects of an herbal compound, a probiotic and an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) on the performance, intestinal bacterial population, antibody titers, and morphology of the jejunum and ileum of broilers. A number of 240 male Ross 308 broilers were distributed into four treatments, with five replicates of 12 bird each. The experimental period was 42 days. Treatments includes: 1) basal diet; 2) basal diet supplemented with an AGP (phospho-flavomycin at 450 mg/kg of diet); 3) basal diet supplemented with a Lactobacillus-containing probiotic (250 mg/kg of diet); and 4) basal diet supplemented with an herbal compound (containing thyme, oregano, chamomile, and peppermint essential oils at 1 g/kg of diet). Body weight (BW) and cumulative feed intake (CFI) were measured weekly. Blood parameters, intestinal morphology, vaccine immunity titers, and intestinal microbial population were measured on day 42. The results showed that probiotic and herbal compound supplementation significantly increased body weight (BW) and decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p<0.05), in comparison with the basal diet. A significant increase in vaccine titers against Avian Influenza, Newcastle disease, and Infectious Bursal Disease were achieved with the treatment with herbal compound supplementation. Herbal compound significantly reduced triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL concentration and ALP, AST and ALT activities and increased the HDL levels in blood serum of chicks (p<0.05). The bacterial load of E. coli, Salmonella and coliforms of the AGP-fed group was significantly lower than those fed the control diet. Significant increases in villus height and decrease in crypt depth and goblet cells were seen in the ileum and jejunum of probiotic-fed broilers (p<0.05). In conclusion, better overall immune status and blood biochemical parameters were obtained with the herbal compound than with the probiotic; however, the performance of broilers fed the probiotic was better than that of the broilers fed the herbal compound and the AGP.

摘要 本研究旨在探究草本复合物、益生菌以及抗生素生长促进剂(antibiotic growth promoter, AGP)对肉仔鸡生产性能、肠道菌群数量、抗体效价以及空肠和回肠形态的影响。试验选取240只雄性Ross 308肉仔鸡，随机分为4个处理组，每组设5个重复，每个重复包含12只肉仔鸡，试验周期为42天。各处理组设置如下：1）基础日粮组；2）基础日粮添加抗生素生长促进剂（磷酸黄霉素，添加量为450mg/kg日粮）；3）基础日粮添加含乳杆菌的益生菌（添加量为250mg/kg日粮）；4）基础日粮添加草本复合物（包含百里香、牛至、洋甘菊及薄荷精油，添加量为1g/kg日粮）。每周测定肉仔鸡的体重(BW)和累计采食量(CFI)，于试验第42天采集样本测定血液指标、肠道形态、疫苗免疫效价及肠道微生物数量。结果表明：与基础日粮组相比，添加益生菌与草本复合物均可显著提升肉仔鸡体重并降低料重比(FCR，p<0.05)；添加草本复合物可显著提高禽流感、新城疫及传染性法氏囊病的疫苗抗体效价。草本复合物可显著降低肉鸡血清中甘油三酯、胆固醇、低密度脂蛋白(LDL)浓度以及碱性磷酸酶(ALP)、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶(AST)、丙氨酸氨基转移酶(ALT)活性，同时提升高密度脂蛋白(HDL)水平(p<0.05)。饲喂抗生素生长促进剂组的大肠杆菌、沙门氏菌及大肠菌群载量显著低于对照组。饲喂益生菌组肉仔鸡的回肠与空肠绒毛高度显著升高，隐窝深度及杯状细胞数量显著降低(p<0.05)。综上，相较于益生菌组，草本复合物可使肉仔鸡获得更优的整体免疫状态与血液生化指标；但饲喂益生菌组肉仔鸡的生产性能优于饲喂草本复合物与抗生素生长促进剂组。