Effects of direct-fed microbial (Bacillus subtilis C-3102) inclusion on tom turkey production efficiency and intestinal microbial populations

SUMMARY Dietary inclusions of direct-fed microbials (DFM) are becoming more common as antimicrobial use for growth promotion is no longer approved. Effects of various DFM on poultry performance have been studied; however, limited research has been conducted on the use of Bacillus subtilis C-3102 (Calsporin®) in turkeys. Therefore, performance, microbial population shifts, and processing responses to Bacillus subtilis C-3102 were investigated using 720 Nicholas Select tom turkeys. Diets were formulated to be identical aside from DFM inclusion and were provided in a six-phase feeding program. DFM diets were formulated to contain 500,000 cfu/g from d1-35 and 300,000 cfu/g of the DFM from d36-133. Each diet was provided to 12 replicate pens of 30 turkeys arranged in a randomized complete block design. Results from d1-133 showed turkeys provided the DFM exhibited a 0.080 improvement in FCR (P