The Effect of the Hydrolyzates of Keratin- and Collagen-Containing Wastes of Poultry Processing in the Diets for Broilers on the Cecal Microbial Community

Abstract

The use of new protein-rich animal-derived ingredients in the diets for modern commercial poultry is an urgent problem for the researchers. The wastes of poultry slaughter and processing can be used for the production of concentrated feed-grade protein ingredients after the short-term and intense thermal treatment in the thin layer and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. These wastes contain primarily keratin and collagen. The aim of the study presented was the investigation of the effects of these hydrolyzates of keratin- and collagen-containing wastes in diets for broiler chicks on the cecal microbial community. The study was performed in the vivarium of All-Russian Research and Technological Institute of Poultry on four treatments (50 birds per treatment) of Ross-308 broilers reared on the floor to 38 or 49 days of age. Control treatment 1 was fed a diet with fishmeal (67% of crude protein) as a source of animal protein. Treatment 2 was fed the same diet with keratin-derived additive (85.7% of crude protein) as a substitution for the fishmeal; treatment 3 was fed the same diet as treatment 2 additionally supplemented with a probiotic containing live cultures of Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus paracasei and Enterococcus faecium; treatment 4 was fed the same diet as treatment 1 with a mixture of keratin- and collagen-derived additives (67.1% of crude protein) as a substitution for the fishmeal and the same probiotic as treatment 3. The qualitative and quantitative composition of cecal microbiota was determined via molecular genetic terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique. It was found that keratinand collagen-derived feed additives rendered no negative impact on the intestinal microbiota. Cecal concentrations of beneficial (normal) species in the treatments fed experimental diets were higher in compare to the control treatment.