Growth performance, digestibility, gut environment and health status in weaned piglets fed a diet supplemented with a complex of lactic acid bacteria alone or in combination with Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces boulardii

Growth performance, digestibility, gut environment and health status were studied in weaned piglets (26-28 days of age) fed a diet without (C) or with supplementation of bacteria and a yeast (diets L, LB and LBS). Diet L was supplemented with a lactic acid bacteria (LAB) complex (Enterococcus faecium 6H2. Lactobacillus acidophilus 0, Pediococcus pentosaceus D7, and L fermentum NC1), diet LB with the LAB complex and Bacillus subtilis H4, and diet LBS with the LAB complex, B. subtilis H4 and Saccharomyces boulardii Sb. Piglets fed diets L, LB and LBS had higher feed intake and daily gain, lower feed conversion ratio, higher ileal and total tract digestibility, and had a lower incidence of diarrhoea and a lower faecal score than piglets fed diet C (P<0.01). Diets L, LB and LBs increased the intestinal LAB population and organic acid concentrations, and reduced E. coli counts. Supplementation with B. subtilis H4 and S. boulardii Sb resulted in higher digestibility than when supplementing with the LAB complex alone. Supplementation with S. boulardii Sb resulted in lower incidence of diarrhoea and lower faecal score than supplementation with the LAB complex alone or together with B. subtilis H4. The LAB complexes used in the current study had probiotic properties and could be used to improve the health status of weaned piglets under Vietnamese conditions. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.