The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding probiotic (Enterococcus faecium SF68, EF) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics and faecal noxious gas content in finishing pigs. A total of eighty [(Landrace×Yorkshire)×Duroc] pigs with an initial BW of 50.47±2.13 kg were used in this 8-week experiment. Pigs were allotted to four treatments (4 replicates per treatment and 5 pigs per pen) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments were: 1) CON (control; basal diet), 2) CTC (control diet+0.1% antibiotic, chlortetracycline), 3) EF1 (control diet+0.1% probiotic, EF) and 4) EF2 (control diet+0.2% probiotic, EF). During weeks 0-4, ADG was not affected by the addition of antibiotic or EF (p>0.05). In weeks 4-8, ADG tended to increase in CTC and EF treatments compared to CON treatment (p<0.10). ADFI and gain/feed were not affected in each 4-week period and the entire experimental period (p>0.05). Digestibilities of DM and N were higher in EF supplemented treatments than in CON and CTC treatments (p<0.05). Blood characteristics of WBC, RBC and lymphocyte were not affected in pigs given diets containing EF (p>0.05). Supplementation of EF in the diet decreased faecal ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) and hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) concentrations (p<0.05). Faecal acetic acid concentration tended to decrease (p<0.10) while propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations were significantly lower on diets with EF supplementation than on the diet containing antibiotic (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of EF can increase nutrient digestibility and decrease faecal NH 3 -N, H 2 S and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in finishing pigs.

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary organic acid mixture(lactic acid 12%, formic acid 9%, citric acid 5%, butyric acid 5% and phosphoric acid 6%) on growth performance, organ weight, blood immunological parameter and intestinal villi morphology in broilers. Dietary treatments included 1) CON (basal diet), 2) OA1 (basal diet + 0.1% organic acid mixture) and 3) OA2 (basal diet + 0.2% organic acid mixture). Four hundred eighty hatched Arbor Acre broiler chickens were housed in 24 pens of 20 birds each. Eight replicate pens were allotted into each treatment by completely randomized design. Daily weight gain, feed intake and feed/gain were not significantly different among the treatments. In organ weight, that of gizzard was significantly heavier in OA2 than CON (Linear effec t = 0.034). However, those of spleen and intestine were not significantly different among the treatments. Blood immunological parameters such as RBC, WBC and lymphocyte were not significantly difference. In intestinal villi morphology, villi length was increased in OA1 compared to CON (Quadratic effect = 0.050). In conclusion, 0.2% organic acid mixture was effective to improve gizzard weight of broilers.