An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Bacillus coagulans ATCC 7050 (B. coagulans) on the performance, intestinal morphology and microflora of broiler chickens. Six-hundred 1-day-old broilers were randomly assigned into five treatment groups with four replicates for 42 days. There were five dietary treatments: negative control, positive control (antibiotics, 200 mg/kg zinc–bacitracin), 0.10, 0.20 and 0.25 g/kg B. coagulans. Dietary B. coagulans improved feed conversion ratio throughout the entire experimental period compared with the negative control (P = 0.02). Dietary B. coagulans significantly increased the number of lactobacilli (P = 0.01) and tended to decrease coliform bacteria (P = 0.06) in the duodenum. Dietary B. coagulans tended to increase villous height (P = 0.08) but had no effect on crypt depth in the jejunum. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in serum cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol between groups. In conclusion, the present data indicate that administration of B. coagulans ATCC 7050 improved feed conversion ratio in broiler chickens, possibly via improving the balance of intestinal microflora.

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