Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Broiler Chickens Supplemented with Bacillus licheniformis in Drinking Water

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted to investigate effects of Bacillus licheniformis on growth performance and meat quality of broilers. Nine hundred one-d-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 3 experimental groups with three replicate pens of 100 broiler chicks. Three treatments were i) control, ii) basal diets supplemented with 1 ml of B. licheniformis for each in feed water per day iii) basal diets supplemented with 2 ml of B. licheniformis per chick in feed water per day. The supplementation of B. licheniformis significantly increased body weight in grower chickens (p<0.05), and significantly improved the feed conversion in 3 to 6 and 0 to 6 wk feeding period compared with the control group (p<0.05). Additionally, the supplement also resulted in increased protein and free amino acid contents, and decreased fat content in chicken breast fillet (p<0.05). Furthermore, improvement in sensory attributes was observed in broilers fed with the probiotic. In conclusion, B. licheniformis treatments resulted in a significant increase (p<0.05) in broiler productivity based on an index taking into account daily weight gain and feed conversion rate. Meanwhile, the probiotic contributed towards an improvement of the chemical, nutritional and sensorial characteristics of breast fillet. Overall, the study indicates that B. licheniformis can be used as a growth promoter and meat quality enhancer in broiler poultry.

Keywords: Bacillus licheniformis; Growth Performance; Meat Quality; Poultry; Probiotic.

Figure 1

Evolution of broiler weekly body weight in the control group and Bacillus licheniformis supplemented groups. B1: 1 ml Bacillus licheniformis supplemented treatment; B2: 2 ml Bacillus licheniformis supplemented treatment.

Figure 2

Comparison of moisture content, protein content, fat content and amino acid content between the control group and Bacillus licheniformis treated groups. C0: control B1: 1 ml Bacillus licheniformis supplemented treatment; B2: 2 ml Bacillus licheniformis supplemented treatment; %: the percent of dry matter.

Figure 3

Comparison of meat colour, flavour, juiciness, aroma strength, and texture of chicken breast fillet between the control group and Bacillus licheniformis treated groups. Each column represents the mean of 15 observations; meat colour, flavour, juiciness, aroma strength, and texture were assessed by the sensory panel using a hedonic (1 to 9) scale where the meat colour ranged from extremely light to extremely dark, flavour from extremely unpleasant to extremely enjoyable, juiciness from extremely dry to extremely juicy, aroma strength from very weak to very strong, and texture from extremely gooey to extremely smooth. Error bars represent standard deviations (n = 15).