Effects of Bacillus coagulans supplementation on the growth performance and gut health of broiler chickens with Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis

Table 6 Effect of Bacillus coagulans on intestinal bacterial concentration and liver Clostridium perfrigens numbers of broiler chickens challenged with NE (n = 6)

		Cecal bacterial counts												Liver Clostridium perfrigens
Items	NE^e	Escherichia coli			Clostridium perfrigens			Lactobacillus			Bifidobacterium
Items	NE^e	d 28	d 35	d 42	d 28	d 35	d 42	d 28	d 35	d 42	d 28	d 35	d 42	d 28	d 35	d 42
Bacillus coagulans, mg/kg
0	–	7.42	7.50	7.63	4.60^c	4.77	4.75^c	8.03	8.70	7.95	8.28	8.64	8.40	0.00^c	0.00^c	0.00^c
0	+	7.57	7.77	7.66	7.06^a	6.87	7.18^a	8.01	7.48	7.98	8.27	7.61	8.24	3.28^a	2.71^a	2.20^a
400	–	7.30	7.10	7.19	4.39^c	4.43	4.62^c	8.44	8.76	8.16	9.05	8.80	8.43	0.00^c	0.00^c	0.00^c
400	+	7.32	7.38	7.40	5.73^b	5.97	5.72^b	8.43	8.06	8.20	8.97	8.16	8.43	1.56^b	1.26^b	0.69^b
SEM^f		0.092	0.044	0.078	0.027	0.043	0.039	0.062	0.091	0.072	0.084	0.076	0.091	0.021	0.022	0.018
Main effect
400		7.31	7.24^b	7.30^b	5.56	5.20^b	5.16	8.43^a	8.41	8.81	9.01^a	8.48^a	8.43	0.78	0.63	0.35
0		7.50	7.64^a	7.65^a	5.83	5.82^a	5.97	8.02^b	8.09	7.97	8.27^b	8.13^b	8.32	1.64	1.36	1.10
Challenged		7.45	7.58^c	7.53	6.40	6.67^c	6.95	8.22	7.77^b	8.09	8.62	7.88^d	8.34	2.42	1.99	1.35
Non-challenged		7.36	7.30^d	7.41	4.50	4.60^d	4.68	8.23	8.73^a	8.05	8.66	8.72^c	8.41	0.00	0.00	0.00
P-values^g
Bacillus coagulans		0.332	<0.001	0.041	<0.001	<0.001	0.001	0.003	0.105	0.152	<0.001	0.032	0.568	0.004	0.007	0.008
Challenged		0.631	0.011	0.457	<0.001	<0.001	0.003	0.911	<0.001	0.785	0.792	<0.001	0.684	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Challenged ×Bacillus coagulans		0.735	0.934	0.586	0.029	0.051	0.004	0.992	0.173	0.964	0.828	0.234	0.689	0.032	0.017	0.021

^a,b,c,d Means within the same column with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05)
^eNE = Co-challenged with Eimeria spp. and Clostridium perfringens; −, without NE challenge; +, with NE challenge
^fSEM, standard error of the mean
^gP-values represent the main effect of the diet, the main effect of NE challenge, and the interaction between the dietary treatments and NE challenge

ISSN: 2049-1891