Effect of activated and inactivated Saccharomyces cerevisiae as alternative to antibiotic growth promoter on the performance and health of broilers infected with Clostridium perfringens

Abstract

The study aims to evaluate the addition of activated and inactivated Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the performance and health of broilers infected with Clostridium perfringens. 360 1–day-old male Ross 308 broilers were divided into 5 groups of 12 cages as experimental units (6 birds per cage) as follows: NC = negative control, basal diet; PC = positive control, basal diet; TI = 0.5 g amoxicillin 20%/kg diet; T2 = 0.75 g activated Saccharomyces cerevisiae/kg diet; T3 = 0.75 g inactivated Saccharomyces cerevisiae/kg diet. At 20 and 21 days of age, all groups except NC were infected with Clostridium perfringens type A by oral injection. At 30 days of age, carcase traits, liver enzymes, oxidation status, microbiota and ileum histomorphology were evaluated. The performance indicators, carcase weight after infection of the birds, were negatively affected compared to the NC group, while T2 and T3, followed by T1, improved compared to the PC group (p