The Use of Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria in Broiler Production

The research was aimed to study the potential of probiotic lactic acid bacteria as suitable alternatives to antibiotics in broilers. This was design to find a possible replacement to antibiotics in broiler production. The study was carried out at the Department of microbiology, faculty of sciences Kaduna State University, Kaduna between January to May 2018. A total of ten raw milk samples were screened for the isolation of Lactic Acid Bacteria and 20 day-old broiler chicks (initial body weight 41 0.5 g) were administered probiotics containing Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus plantenrun and Weissalla ciberia in water at 108 cells/milliliters/isolates/birds/day at day 6, 7, 8, 21, 22, and 23 of ages. Body Weight (BW), Weight Gain (WG) and Feed Intake (FI) were measured weekly just as feed conversion ratio was calculated and mortality recorded throughout the duration of the experiment. Blood glucose concentration, total protein, lipid profiles and Total immunoglobulins (IgY) were determined from blood sample at the ages of 14 and 42 days. Carcass quality and proximate analysis were evaluated from the meat of the broiler at the age of 42 days.