Effects of dietary supplementation of probiotic, Clostridium butyricum, on growth performance, immune response, intestinal barrier function, and digestive enzyme activity in broiler chickens challenged with Escherichia coli K88

Table 5 Effects of Clostridium butyricum on Jejunum morphometry in broilers¹

Items	Age of (post-ch)²	Experimental treats				Statistics
Items	Age of (post-ch)²	NC	PC	CB	CS	SEM	P-value
Villi height, μm	3d	264.35	259.81	275.71	253.01	5.69	0.220
	7d	267.65^bc	287.54^b	346.75^a	254.41^c	7.91	<0.01
	14d	397.49^b	355.07^c	448.51^a	410.9^b	8.24	<0.01
	21d	429.41^b	433.6^b	531.09^a	407.26^b	9.37	<0.01
Crypt depth, μm	3d	50.22^a	47.01^ab	33.68^c	42.9^b	2.08	<0.01
	7d	50.06^b	60.3^a	39.44^c	38.2^c	2.17	<0.01
	14d	66.07^b	73.96^a	56.51^c	59.95^c	1.87	<0.01
	21d	82.5^b	115.46^a	84.04^b	76.03^b	3.29	<0.01

^a-cMeans in the same row with different superscript letters differ significantly (P < 0.05)
¹Each mean represents 6 birds. NC = birds fed a basal diet without challenged with E. coli K88; PC = birds fed a basal diet and challenged with E. coli K88. CB = birds fed a basal diet including 2 × 10⁷ CFU C. butyricum/kg of diet and challenged with E. coli K88. CS = birds fed a basal diet including 20 mg colistin sulfate/kg of diet and challenged with E. coli K88
²The days after challenging

ISSN: 2049-1891