Influence of dietary prebiotic addition on digestibility and intestinal microflora of young male broiler chickens exposed to delayed feed access after hatch

Abstract

A trial was conducted to investigate the effects of a dietary prebiotic for a period of 14 d on the intestinal microflora, Dry Matter (DM) and Organic Matter (OM) digestibility and growth performance of male broiler chicks Delayed to Feed Access (DFA) after hatch. One hundred forty four 1-d-old broiler chicks (ROSS 308) were randomly distributed into 6 groups with 8 replicate pens having 3 birds in each. A 2 x 3 factorial design was implemented. Six experimental groups were formed by two levels of dietary prebiotic supplementation (Control and Agrimos®, 1 kg/ton) and three periods of DFA (0-, 24- and 48- h). Depending on the time interval between arrival to the experimental site and feeding, holding chicks prior to free access to water and feed had a negative impact (p<0.001) on the body weight. At the end of the trial, these differences remained significant for body weight (p<0.05) and feed consumption (p<0.001) of chicks with DFA. DM digestibility reduced significantly (p<0.05) in birds exposed to 24- and 48-hour delay prior to feeding. A significant decrease (6.2 vs. 5.5 log10cfu/g) in Enterobacteriaceae (p<0.01) and increase (5.5 vs. 5.9 log10cfu/g) in Lactobacilli count was noted in prebiotic supplemented groups on d 7. Dietary prebiotic supplementation improved DM (p<0.05) and OM (p<0.05) digestibility significantly. Relative weight of intestine was reduced (p<0.05) in birds fasted for 24- and 48-h after hatch. Overall, dietary prebiotic supplementation helped broiler chicks to develop a healthier intestinal microflora and this may, in turn, inhibit the DFA resulted decrease of dry matter digestibility in early growing period. However, prebiotic inclusion to broiler diets may not be a protective management practice in preventing DFA-related growth depression of broiler chickens. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2012.