This study investigated the effects of a synbiotic consisting of inulin, Enterococcus faecium, Pediococcus acidilactici, Bifidobacterium animalis, and Lactobacillus reuteri given orally to day (d)-of-hatch (DOH) broiler chicks at the hatchery and in the feed for a 21 d period. A total of 480 Cobb male broilers were randomly divided into one of four treatments using a 2 × 2 factorial design as follows: (1) control (CTRL) group receiving a gel-only oral application on DOH at the hatchery prior to transport and a non-medicated basal corn/soybean meal starter diet; (2) hatchery synbiotic (HS) receiving an oral gel containing the synbiotic (0.5 mL/bird) at the hatchery and the basal diet; (3) CTRL + dietary synbiotic at 0.5 kg/MT (DS); and (4) HS + dietary synbiotic at 0.5 kg/MT (HSDS). On d 7 and d 21, one bird per pen (eight replicate pens/group) was euthanized, and the ileum was immediately removed for qPCR analysis. Data were subjected to a 2-way ANOVA using GLM procedure (JMP Pro17). A significant diet × hatchery interaction was observed in feed conversion ratio (FCR) from d 14 to d 21 (p = 0.013) where the HS, DS, and HSDS treatments had a significantly lower FCR compared to the CTRL. However, no significant interaction effect was observed for body weight gain (BWG) or FCR during the overall experimental period. No significant interaction was observed in mRNA abundance of the evaluated genes in the ileum on d 7 and d 21. Gel application with the synbiotic significantly reduced sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1) mRNA abundance on d 7 (p = 0.035) in comparison to birds receiving gel alone. Regardless of hatchery application, dietary synbiotic supplementation significantly reduced Toll-like receptor (TLR)2, TLR4, and interleukin (IL)-10 mRNA abundance on d 7 (p = 0.013). In conclusion, these findings showed that hatchery and dietary synbiotic application could have a potential beneficial impact on broiler intestinal immunity by regulating the TLR response, a key element of innate immunity. FCR was improved from d 14 to d 21 after synbiotic application. Future research involving extended grow-out studies with a disease challenge would expand on the implications of an early application of synbiotics.
Keywords: broiler; hatchery; immune response; nutrient transporter; synbiotic.