Effects of Fructo-oligosaccharide and Bacillus Subtilis on Performance and Intestinal Microflora in Broilers

A total of 360 newly-hatched AA broilers were selected to investigate the effects of fructo-oligosaccharide and bacillus subtilis on performance and intestinal microflora in broilers.The result indicated that dietary supplementation with FOS or Bacillus alone had selective effects on increasing caecal population of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and decreasing population of harmful bacteria such as E.Coli and salmonella. However,supplemental aureomycin had non-selective effects on caecal microflora which inhibited all bacteria.Moreover,the combination of FOS and bacillus had much better improvement on caecal micro-ecosystem for broiler cockerels.Dietary addition of FOS or bacillus improved performance of broilers to the levels of those fed the diet with aureomycin and the combination of FOS and bacillus had better effects on reducing diarrhea and promoting growth.