Histopathology of gastrointestinal tract and organoleptic attributes of broiler chickens administered with different probiotic formulations

Probiotics were prepared in the biological laboratory of Ekiti State Polytechnic in three separate 5 Litre capacity air-tight plastic kegs each having maize, sorghum and rice as substrates. They wholly replaced Tetracin® (a feed-grade antibiotic) in the diet of Arbor acre broiler chickens (corresponding to each treatment) from week 2-8 of rearing. There were two control diets - positive and negative (Treatments 1 and 2 respectively) that had inclusion of Tetracin® at the recommended rate and no inclusion of Tetracin®. At the end of the feeding trial, 20 birds per treatment were humanely sacrificed defeathered, eviscerated with primal cuts made and used for sensory evaluation. The total bacterial count in maize-based probiotic was 8.50CFU/mL(x103), Sorghum was 12.55 CFU/mL(x103) and Rice-9.25CFU/mL(x103). Fungal count in maize was 5.50SFU/mL(x103), sorghum-4.35SFU/mL(x103) and Rice-11.70SFU/mL(x103). Histopathological evaluation showed that birds in Treatment 1 had moderate portal congestion while those in 2 had mild cellular infiltration. No visible lesion was seen in liver samples of birds in Treatment 3 while those in 4 had severe portal hypoplasia. Liver samples of birds in Treatment 5 had no visible lesions. Overall, results showed that birds administered sorghum and rice–based probiotics fared better than those provided with maize-based probiotic.