Work

Impact of prebiotic supplementation on the zootechnical and health performance in broiler chickens

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study aimed toevaluate the effectiveness ofmannan-oligosaccharides (MOSs) inbroiler chicken feed throughout the complete rearing cycle, focusing onzootechnical performance and lactic acid bacteria. Over aperiod of49days, atotal ofone thousand and eighty (1080) day-old ISA15 chicks were divided into two (control and experimental) groups of540 subjects each (9replicates of60chicks per treatment). They were fed the same basic diet, but only the experimental group received ayeast cell wall extract-based prebiotic (AGRIMOS®, France), administered continuously atadose of2g/kg throughout the different rearing phases. Under our local conditions, the prebiotic supplementation resulted inasignificant increase inbody weight gain (P<0.01), reaching 1559.82± 41.47g during the growth phase and 913.20± 72.58g during the finishing phase. Moreover, asignificant reduction inthe feed conversion ratio was observed throughout the rearing cycle (P<0.05). Across all segments ofthe analysed intestinal tract (duodenum, ileum, and caecum), the data showed that chickens supplemented with the prebiotic had asignificantly higher number oflactic acid bacteria than the control group atthe start, growth, and finishing phases (P<0.01). Our findings demonstrated a clear impact of the prebiotic on the feed utilisation under our rearing conditions, which required further studies to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of action.

Source: Veterinární Medicína

DOI: 10.17221/37/2025-vetmed