Effects of the Addition of Crude Fibre Concentrate on Performance, Welfare and Selected Caecal Bacteria of Broilers

• Published in: Animals (Basel) 2023-12, Vol.13 (24), p.3883
• Main Authors: Urban, Jakub, Jaworski, Sławomir, Lange, Agata, Bień, Damian, Matuszewski, Arkadiusz, Michalczuk, Monika
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Bacteria; Birds; Body weight; Cellulose; Costs (Law); crude fibre; Dermatitis; Digestive system; Feed industry; Gram-positive bacteria; Health aspects; Homeostasis; Lactose; Lignin; Lignocellulose; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Nutrition; Poultry; Probiotics; selected caecal bacteria; Welfare
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13243883

The study evaluated the effects of crude fibre concentrate supplementation on final body weight, mortality, feed conversion ratio, European Production Efficiency Factor, European Broiler Index, welfare parameters, colony-forming units of selected caecal bacteria ( and lactic acid bacteria) and pH of broiler faeces and litter. The study comprised 990 Ross 308 male chicks divided into three groups, a control and two experimental groups, which were given crude fibre concentrate as a feed supplement. On the thirty-fifth day of rearing, the birds' welfare scores were evaluated, and 2 g of cecum was collected post-mortem from six chickens in each group. Subsequently, a series of ten-fold dilutions of the material was prepared, followed by cultures and measurement of pH in the faeces and litter. The inclusion of crude fibre concentrate resulted in a beneficial impact on the ultimate body mass ( ≤ 0.001), welfare standard ( ≤ 0.001), and quantity of colony-forming units of lactic acid bacteria ( ≤ 0.05) within the cecum. Furthermore, it had a positive influence on lowering the pH levels of both faeces and litter ( ≤ 0.05).