The effect of a pre- and probiotic (separate and in combination) on the performance of broilers.

As an alternative for the banned antimicrobial growth promoters in poultry, pre-, and probiotics are used in practical broiler feeding. A trial was done by Schothorst Feed Research to test Vetmostan, an exocellular mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) produced by an intentionally cultured micro-organism, and a probiotic based on Bacillus subtilis spores added to a wheat/soya-based broiler diets. MOS was added as 2, 1 and 1 g/kg and the probiotic as 0.5, 0.5 and 0 g/kg to the starter, grower and finisher, respectively. 408 Ross male and 408 female day-old broilers were randomly allocated to 48 pens (17 birds/pen). Per sexe, each dietary strategy was tested with 6 replicate pens. MOS improved body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) after 36 days significantly both with 1.9%, whereas Bacillus subtilis had no significant effect on BWG and FCR. The use of both products together improved BWG and FCR significantly with 3.0 and 2.1% respectively. Positive effects became significant after 14 days. No interaction between sexe and treatment was found. It was concluded that the addition of MOS to the diets was more effective stimulating broiler performance than the addition of Bacillus subtilis.