EFFICACY OF SUPPLEMENTING BACILLUS SUBTILIS, SACCHAROMYCES BOULARDII AND SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND GUT HEALTH OF BROILER CHICKENS

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate how supplementing broiler diets with Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces boulardii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, singly and in combination, affects growth performance, carcass traits, organ development and gut health. One hundred and twenty day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were allotted to five treatment groups of three replicates each: a control fed a basal diet alone, and four supplemented groups receiving the basal diet plus Saccharomyces boulardii (1 × 10^8 cfu/kg), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (1 × 10^8 cfu/kg), Bacillus subtilis (1 × 10^9 cfu/kg), or a combination of all three organisms (1 × 10^3 cfu/kg each). Birds fed the combined probiotic blend ate less feed yet reached the heaviest live body weight (2512 g) and the most efficient feed conversion ratio (1.51), against 2137 g and 1.82 for the control. The same group also produced the heaviest carcass (1725 g), the tallest jejunal villi (970 µm) and the lowest intestinal counts of Salmonella and E. coli, alongside the highest Lactobacillus counts. Organ weights, intestinal lengths and most microbial parameters did not differ significantly among groups. These results suggest that a multi-strain probiotic blend gives a more consistent improvement in broiler growth and gut health than any single organism fed alone, and support its use as a practical alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in broiler production.