The Probiotic BioPlus 2B as an Alternative to Antibiotics in Diets for Broiler Chickens

The main aim of this work was to compare the stimulatory effect of the probiotic BioPlus 2B with that of the antibiotic Avilamycin on the growth and feed conversion in broiler chickens. The growth experiment was performed with one-day-old sexed female and male ROSS 308 hybrid chickens (240 females and 240 males) placed in 24 cages. They were fed the starter diet from Day 1 to Day 14, followed by the grower from Day 15 to Day 35 and the finisher in a loose form from Day 36 to Day 42. Diets and water were available ad libitum. The control slaughter of chickens was performed at the end of the experiment (Day 42) to determine the slaughter yield and the content of inner fat in the final product. The supplementation of the diets used in broiler prefattening and fattening with BioPlus 2B resulted in a 4–5% weight gain (P P P < 0.01) in chickens fed diets containing probiotic and antibiotic products compared to the group of chickens fed the diet not supplemented with a growth promotor. The weight of inner fat in chickens under study did not differ significantly either between experimental groups or between sexes

Use of yeast cell walls and Yucca schidigera extract in layer hens’ diets

This research was conducted to determine the impact of diet supplementation with yeast cell walls (YCW) and <em>Yucca schidigera</em> extract (YE) on performance, egg weight, specific gravity, body weight, and intestinal tissue hist­ology in layer hens. White, 48-week-old, Hy-line hybrid hens (n=320) were divided into four main groups, each comprising eight groups of 10 hens: (1) control, (2) 500 mg/kg YCW added, (3) 500 mg/kg YE added and (4) 250 mg/kg YE plus 2500 mg/kg YCW added. While the egg production and feed intake of the hens was significantly affected, overall feed efficiency, damaged-egg ratio, dirty-egg ratio, egg weight and specific gravity did not differ between the control group and the YCW, YE or YCW+YE groups. Final body weight was higher in the YCW, YE and YCW+YE groups than in the control group. There were differences in the width, muscle layer thickness and height/crypt depth ratio of the duodenal villus and the width of the ileal villus among the four groups. It can be concluded that YCW and YCW+YE supplementation for layer hens are beneficial for egg production