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              Research 
  
  (Published 
  online : 23-05-2013)
  
  
  14. Biological response of broiler supplemented 
  with varying dose of direct fed microbial - 
  Saurabh Chawla, Shivani Katoch, K. S. Sharma and V. K. Sharma
  Vet World. 2013; 6(8): 521-524
              
               
              
              doi: 
              10.5455/vetworld.2013.521-524
               
              
  
  
   
  
              
               
               
               
              
              
              Abstract
              
              
  
  Aim: To study biological 
  response of the isolated strain (Direct fed microbial- DFM) of Enterococcus 
  spp. in broilers at different dose rates.  
  
   Materials and Methods: 
  Various treatments consisted of T0: Control (Culture medium); T1- isolated 
  direct fed microbial namely Enterococcus faecium (2.8 x 108 cfu/kg feed); T2- 
  Enterococcus faecium (4.8 x 108 cfu/kg feed), T3- Enterococcus faecium (6.8 x 
  108 cfu/kg feed) and T4- Enterococcus faecium (8.8 x 108 cfu/kg feed). Growth 
  attributes and feed consumption was recorded at regular intervals. Randomly 6 
  birds per treatment were chosen for blood collection and for estimation of 
  calcium, phosphorus and cholesterol concentration in blood. Representative 
  sample of birds were slaughtered and caecal contents were collected under 
  sterile conditions to study microbial flora. 
  
   Results: Dose specific 
  results for growth attributes, FCR, plasma concentration of calcium, 
  phosphorus and cholesterol, and microbiological evaluation of caeca were 
  obtained after supplementation of isolated DFM. Enterococcus spp. 
  supplementation at low doses (2.8 x 108 cfu) resulted in significant increase 
  in weight gain and better FCR. Low dosage supplementation of Enterococcus spp. 
  also increased calcium concentration and lowered cholesterol in blood. Birds 
  in treatment T4 supplemented with high dose of Enterococcus spp. performed 
  poorly as compared to control. All treatments had high ratio of gram positive 
  to gram negative bacteria. 
  
   Conclusion: It was concluded that isolated 
  strain of Enterococcus acted as probiotics only at low dosage (2.8 x 108 cfu). 
  Further it was found that overall biological performance was negatively 
  correlated to higher dose (8.8 x 108 cfu) of supplementations of Enterococcus 
  spp. Micro floral study of caecal content indicated that the strain was able 
  to establish itself in the gut. 
  
   Keywords: broilers, direct fed 
  microbial, dosage, Enterococcus spp., probiotics