UTILIZACIÓN DE STREPTOMYCES SP. RL8 COMO AGENTE PROBIÓTICO EN POLLOS DE LA RAZA LEGHORN

Abstract

Chickens in poultry facilities are subjected to stressful conditions during the first weeks of life, which cause imbalances in their intestinal microbiota and, as a consequence, become susceptible to pathogenic microorganisms. The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics to counteract the effects of these pathogens has led to problems of bacterial resistance and food safety. Probiotics have been proposed as a means of reducing intestinal pathogens and increasing bioproductive indicators. In the present work, we assessed the probiotic activity of Streptomyces sp. strain RL8 over physiological and productive parameters in Leghorn chickens. It was shown that there were no significant differences between the treated and control group with respect to productive and health parameters. However, significant differences between both groups were found for some immunological and hematological components. Thus, Streptomyces sp. strain RL8 may be an alternative to improve the health status of chickens, by stimulating hematological parameters and modulating the immune system of birds.