GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF FINISHER BROILER CHICKEN ADMINSTERED Bacillus subtilis (PROBIOTICS) IN DRINKING WATER

Abstract

A 28-day feeding trial study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Bacillus subtilis (probiotics) supplementation on the growth performance of finisher broiler chickens. One hundred and twenty (120), three (3) weeks old mixed sexes chicks were used in this study. The birds were randomly assigned to four dietary treatment groups; T1, T2, T3, and T4 with Bacillus subtilis supplementation at 0ml/litre, 10ml/litre, 20ml/litre and 30ml/litre in drinking water respectively. The treatment groups were replicated three times with ten (10) birds per replicate in a Complete Randomized Design. The birds were housed in deep litter pens and all necessary routine management practices were observed. The growth performance data were collected for parameters such as initial weight, final weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR). The data collected were statistically analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with SPSS version 16.0 and significance of differences among treatments was determined using Duncan multiple range test. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) across the treatment groups for Initial weight. However, significant (P<0.05) differences were observed for feed intake, final body weights and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Therefore, supplementation of broiler finisher diet with 20ml/litre in drinking water is recommended for optimal performance