Direct-fed microbial and its combination with xylanase, amylase, and protease enzymes in comparison with AGPs on broiler growth performance and foot-pad lesion development
Abstract This study evaluated the effect of a direct-fed microbial (DFM) and its combination with xylanase, amylase, and protease (XAP) enzymes cocktail on performance of broilers, in comparison with two commonly used antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs). Five treatments were tested using day-old Ross 708 broilers (mixed sex at 50:50 ratio) in a completely randomized design with 8 replications per treatment (40 birds/pen) using built up litter. Treatments were 1) a negative control (NC) based on corn/soy/wheat (10%) containing 500FTU/kg phytase, 2) NC + DFM (150,000 CFU/g of 3 Bacillus strains) (DFM150); 3) NC+ DFM (75,000 CFU/g of 3 Bacillus strains) in combination with XAP, XAP + DFM75); 4) NC+ BMD (50 g/ton), and 5) NC+ virginiamycin (20 g/ton). Diets were fed in mash form ad libitum in 3 phases: d 1 to 10 (starter); d 11 to 21 (grower) and d 22 to 42 (finisher). Body weight and feed intake (FI) were measured per phase and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was corrected for mortality weight. Treatment means were compared using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and separated via Duncan's Multiple Range Test. Supplementation of DFM increased (P