Effect of probiotic (Lactobacillus sporogenes) feeding on egg production and quality, yolk cholesterol and humoral immune response of White Leghorn layer breeders

Abstract

The effect of probiotic (Lactobacillus sporogenes) feeding on egg production and quality, yolk cholesterol and humoral immune response of White Leghorn (WL) layer breeders was studied. WL layer breeders (24 weeks) were randomly distributed into three groups of 28 each and were housed in individual California type cages. Considering one bird (individual feeding) as a replicate, 28 such replicates were randomly allotted to one of the three dietary treatments: basal (control) or basal with probiotic supplementation at a rate of 100 or 150 mg kg −1 feed. The probiotic used in the study was a commercial preparation containing L. sporogenes with 6000 million spores g −1 of the product. Dietary supplementation of L. sporogenes at 100 mg (6 × 10 8 spore) kg −1 diet significantly increased egg production and feed efficiency. However, body weight gain, feed intake, egg weight, specific gravity and Haugh unit was not influenced by probiotic feeding. The eggshell breaking strength, shell weight and shell thickness increased significantly by feeding 100 mg probiotic kg −1 diet. The serum concentration of calcium and protein increased, and that of cholesterol decreased by L. sporogenes supplementation. The yolk cholesterol followed the same trend of serum cholesterol. Feeding of L. sporogenes significantly enhanced antibody production. No difference in antibody production could, however, noticed between the levels (100 or 150 mg) of probiotic. It is concluded that feeding of L. sporogenes at 100 mg (6 × 10 8 spore) kg −1 diet significantly enhanced the egg production, shell quality and humoral immune response of WL layer breeders during 25-40 weeks of age.

<i>Lactobacillus </i>Strain with High Adhesion Stimulates Intestinal Mucin Expression in Broiler

“…Members of the genus Lactobacillus are a kind of probiotic bacteria commonly used for the supplementation of human and animal diets and have a variety of proposed beneficial effects, including promotion of gut health. Several studies have highlighted the value of Lactobacillus in poultry (Hofacre et al, 2003;Higgins et al, 2008;Panda et al, 2008). The application of probiotics in poultry feeding could be enhanced by a preliminary in vitro screening.…”

Dietary Inclusion of Probiotics, Prebiotics and Synbiotic and Evaluating Performance of Laying Hens

“…The better results obtained for the eggshell quality parameters could be partly due to the fact that the probiotics and prebiotics influence on the metabolic activity of the beneficial bacteria colony within the layers' intestine, which positively influence mineral absorption rate, especially those of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ (Roberfroid, 2000).The egg shell quality improvement is under the influence of the intestinal Ca 2+ absorption rate improvement, phenomenon facilitated by the presence within feed of some fodder additives like prebiotics, as previously stated by other researches. This beneficial effect on eggshell quality due to probiotic feeding may be attributed to a favorable environment in the intestinal tract by feeding of L. sporogenes, which might have helped to assimilate more calcium, which was evident by increased concentration of Ca in serum (Panda et al, 2008).…”

Effects of dietary Bacillus subtilis and inulin supplementation on performance, eggshell quality, intestinal morphology and microflora composition of laying hens in the late phase of production

“…Losing intestinal integrity encourages gut pathogenic bacteria at the expense of beneficial bacteria. Therefore, dietary inclusion of beneficial bacteria was reported to recover intestinal integrity, improve gut health, and enhance nutrients availability and absorption (Panda et al, 2008;Awad et al, 2009;Knap et al, 2011). Bacillus subtilis is among the wide variety of beneficial bacteria that have been recognized as safe for animal dietary use (EFSA, 2007).…”