Effects of Dietary Bacillus coagulans and Tributyrin on Growth Performance, Serum Antioxidants, Intestinal Morphology, and Cecal Microbiota of Growing Yellow-Feathered Broilers

Jinwang Hou; Lina Lian; Lizhi Lu; Tiantian Gu; Tao Zeng; Li Chen; Wenwu Xu; Guoqin Li; Hongzhi Wu; Yong Tian

doi:10.3390/ani13223534

Effects of Dietary Bacillus coagulans and Tributyrin on Growth Performance, Serum Antioxidants, Intestinal Morphology, and Cecal Microbiota of Growing Yellow-Feathered Broilers

Animals (Basel). 2023 Nov 15;13(22):3534. doi: 10.3390/ani13223534.

Authors

Jinwang Hou¹, Lina Lian¹, Lizhi Lu¹, Tiantian Gu¹, Tao Zeng¹, Li Chen¹, Wenwu Xu¹, Guoqin Li¹, Hongzhi Wu², Yong Tian¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
² Tropical Crop Genetic Resource Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China.

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of Bacillus coagulans (BC) and tributyrin (TB) supplementation on the growth performance, serum antioxidant capacity, intestinal morphology, and cecal microbiota of yellow-feathered broilers. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, 480 broilers were randomly assigned to four experimental diets, comprising two levels of BC (0 and 1 g/kg) and two levels of TB (0 and 1 g/kg), over a 36-day period. A significant interaction was observed between BC and TB, impacting the average daily feed intake (ADFI) of broilers aged between 26 and 40 days (p < 0.01). BC and TB also displayed a significant interaction in relation to serum malondialdehyde levels and total antioxidant capacity (p < 0.05). Additionally, there was a significant interaction between BC and TB concerning the duodenal villus-to-crypt ratio, crypt depth, and jejunal villus-to-crypt ratio (p < 0.05). The addition of BC and TB significantly enhanced the richness and diversity of cecal microbiota, with a notable interactive effect observed for the abundance of Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcus_torques_group, and Phascolarctobacterium. In conclusion, supplementation with BC and TB can effectively improve the growth performance, serum antioxidant capacity, intestinal morphology, and cecal microbiota composition of yellow-feathered broilers, indicating the presence of an interactive effect.

Keywords: Bacillus coagulans; gut microbes; serum antioxidant; tributyrin; yellow-feathered broiler.

Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province (No. 2021C02034) and Zhejiang Provincial Special Commissioner Team Projects of Science and Technology (No. Xianju Chicken Industry, 2020–2024).