Effect of dietary supplementation of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens

Aim: The aim was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementations of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. Materials and Methods: A total of 360 1-day-old Vencobb broiler chickens of either sex were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments each consisting of three replicates and each replicate having 30 birds for 6 weeks. The dietary treatments were (1) control group with basal diet, (2) basal diet supplemented with prebiotic (at 400 g/tonne of starter as well as finisher ration), (3) basal diet supplemented with probiotic (at 100 g/tonne of starter ration and 50 g/tonne of finisher ration), and (4) basal diet supplemented with synbiotic(at 500 g/tonne of starter as well as finisher ration). The birds were provided with ad-libitum feed and drinking water during the entire experimental period. Results: The highest body weight observed in asynbiotic group, which was non-significantly (p>0.05) higher than thecontrol group. Prebiotic and probiotic groups showed lower body weight than synbiotic and control groups. A total feed intake did not show any significant (p>0.05) difference between experimental groups. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in feed conversion ratio of broiler chickens in prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic groups as compared with control group. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in the carcass traits with respect to dressing percentage, carcass percentage, heart weight, liver weight and gizzard weight, wing percentage, breast percentage, back percentage, thigh percentage, and drumstick percentage in Cobb broilers under study. Conclusion: The growth performance and percentage of carcass yield did not show any significant increase by the dietary inclusion of prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic compared with unsupplemented control in a commercial broiler chicken.