The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of Bacillus subtilis ( BS ), ATCC 6051a strain, as a probiotic bacterium in broiler diets based of 2 protein sources (soybean meal [ SBM ] and cowpea seeds [ CWP ]), on growth performance ( GP ), carcass traits, bone mineralization, and microflora population (0 to 42 d age). The SBM and CWP starter, grower, and finisher diets were tested in the presence or absence of BS (5.0 × 10 11 CFU spores g −1 feed) in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments in a completely randomized design. Broilers were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments with 6 replicate pens per treatment (20 chicks per pen). The results showed that broilers fed CWP had comparable GP (body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio) to the birds fed the SBM diet. Carcass, breast and legs' yield, organ size (i.e., gizzard, liver, pancreas, small intestine, cecum), and bone development were not affected by the protein source. The addition of BS in both types of diet improved BWG ( P < 0.001) and feed efficiency, especially in the grower and finisher period ( P = 0.047; P = 0.043 , respectively). In addition, BS significantly decreased abdominal fat ( P = 0.026) and cecum weight ( P = 0.034) and increased tibia bone P concentration ( P = 0.015). Furthermore, BS decrease cecal pH ( P = 0.010) and reduced Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus spp. from cecum and excreta broilers ( P < 0.001; P < 0.0001 , respectively). It is concluded that the BS significantly improved the GP of broilers and can beneficially affect the gut and excreta bacterial community in both SBM and CWP diets.

From gut content (ileum and cecum) of eight turkeys, 73 days old, was isolated, phenotypic identified and preserved, nine strains from Lactobacillus genus (L. acidophilus IBNA 11, L. acidophilus biotype 3 IBNA 12, L. fermentum biotype 1, IBNA 13-18 and L. salivarius IBNA 19) and one strain of Enterococcus faecium (IBNA 10).The parallel identification of strains was made by apiwebTM API50CHL V.5.1, BioMerieux (France) software, API20STREP, and ABIS online software. Quantitative level of Lactobacillus spp. strains (10 6 -10 9 CFU/g intestinal content) and Enterococcus faecium strain (10 6 CFU/g intestinal content) in ecological niche was determined.The viability of Lactobacillus spp. strains preserved at 4 0 C (from 45 to 90 days) and at room temperature (under 90 days), and Enterococcus faecium at 4 0 C (more than 11 months) was tested. Keywords Lactobacillus spp., Enterococcus faecium, gut, turkey IONUT SORESCU et al. 42Table 4. The results of parallel identification of strains by apiweb TM soft, API20STREP, API50CHL V.5.1, BioMerieux (France) and ABIS online software. Strains API, % ID ABIS, % SIM 1. Enterococcus faecium IBNA 10 E.faecium, 99.2% E. mundtii, 96% E. gallinarum, 92% E. moraviensis, 92% 2. Lactobacillus acidophilus IBNA 11 L.crispatus, 38.4% L. acidophilus,95% L. acidophilus, 37.2% 3. Lactobacillus acidophilus 3 IBNA 12 L. acidophillus 3, 96.8% L. acidophilus,92% 4. Lactobacillus fermentum 1, IBNA 13 L. fermentum 1, 90.6% L.acidophilus,87.7% L.fermentum, 81.8% 5. Lactobacillus fermentum 1, IBNA 14 L. fermentum 1, 84.7% L.acidophilus, 88% L.fermentum, 81.8% 6. Lactobacillus fermentum 1, IBNA 15 L. fermentum, 90.6% L.acidophilus, 88% L.fermentum, 81.8% 7. Lactobacillus fermentum 1, IBNA 16 L. fermentum 1, 94.9% L. kefiranofaciens subsp. kefiranofaciens, 94.8% L. fermentum, 81.9% 8. Lactobacillus fermentum 1, IBNA 17 L. fermentum 1, 88.3% L. fermentum, 88% 9. Lactobacillus fermentum 1, IBNA 18 L. fermentum 1, 88.3% L. fermentum, 88% 10. Lactobacillus salivarius IBNA 19 L. salivarius, 99.9% L. salivarius, 97%

Weaning is associated with several stress factors and their effects on the piglet's body are fairly well known. Thus, changes were estimated in certain serum and faecal parameters after weaning owing to dietary protein level, though essential amino acid (AA) levels were maintained or reduced. Eighteen Topigs piglets were assigned randomly to three homogenous groups. The dietary protein level was reduced by 10% in diets 1 and 2 compared with diet C. Diet 1 had similar levels of essential AA to diet C, while the levels of essential AA in diet 2 were reduced by 10%. Blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture in the farrowing unit on four occasions: before and after separation from the sow; the day after transfer to the nursery; and seven days after weaning. Faecal excreta were collected daily. No major health problems arose, and total pathogen germs were not different among treatments. Cortisol concentration reached similar values to those from the farrowing unit seven days after weaning. Whatever the diet, vitamin E in plasma decreased significantly in the first seven days post weaning. The reduction of dietary protein, as well as essential AAs, adversely affected the concentration of Cu (by 17.3%) in plasma. Selenium concentration in plasma increased slightly, irrespective of diet. The authors conclude that providing dietary protein at a particular level (diet 1), while maintaining AAs at normal level, limits faecal nitrogenous content without significantly modifying stress indicators (except vitamin E) or faecal composition.

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of diets containing raw lentil seeds (Lens culinaris cv. Eston and cv. Anicia) on meat fatty acids profile and blood plasma parameters of broiler chickens. Day old, broiler chicks (1,000; Cobb 500) were randomly allocated to the following 5 treatments, viz. a diet based on corn and SBM as control; 200g/kg of raw lentil seeds cv. Eston (LE); 400 g/kg of LE; 200g/kg of raw lentil seeds cv. Anicia (LA);400 g/kg of LA. Data were analysed as a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. The broilers meat fatty acid profile was affected by dietary inclusion of lentil. Accordingly, breast muscle of broilers fed raw lentil seeds had significant higher levels of alfa-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic (EPA), docosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids. A significant interaction was observed between level and cultivar for majority of n-3 PUFA profile, except for octadecatetraenoic acid, EPA and DHA. The blood plasma parameters were not influenced by treatments, except for glucose and triglycerides concentration which were lower in the groups fed with lentils. No significant interaction between lentil levels and cultivars was noticed for plasma parameters. Based on the results, we concluded that raw lentil seeds represent an interesting alternative protein source which can improve the quality of broiler meat that can be recommended in healthy, balanced diets to prevent human diseases.