Probiotic Attributes of Lactobacillus fermentum NKN51 Isolated from Yak Cottage Cheese and the Impact of Its Feeding on Growth, Immunity, Caecal Microbiology and Jejunal Histology in the Starter Phase of Broiler Birds

Background: The discovery of antibiotics was a great success in control of the pathogenic infections in living beings. In addition, it also played a significant role in upliftment of the meat industry with their use as the growth promoters in the food animals including poultry. However, massive and incorrect use of antibiotics has resulted in the adverse outcome of antibiotic resistance over the years. In order to limit the antibiotic resistance at industry level itself, exploration of the possible alternatives such as probiotics is the need of the hour to replace the antibiotics in poultry industry without compromising the productivity. Hence, the present study was conducted to explore the effects of a novel probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus fermentum NKN51 on the production performance of the broilers with an aim to replace the antibiotics in poultry production.Methods: In the present study, a total of 128 broiler birds were grouped randomly into four treatment groups which were fed basal diet (BD) along with the different levels of L. fermentum NKN51,viz.,T1 (BD+107cfu/gm), T2(BD+106cfu/gm), T3 (BD+105cfu/gm) and T4 or control (BD only) for a period of 28 days so as to observe the effect of Lactobacillus fermentum NKN51 in the starter phase of the broiler birds in terms of growth, immunity, gut health and physiology.Result: The result revealed that the group of broiler birds supplemented with Lactobacillus fermentum NKN51 at the level of 107cfu/gm of basal feed had significantly better growth performance, cell mediated and humoral immunity, gut health and jejunal histology in terms of villus height, VH:CD ratio and intestinal absorption capacity. Thus, Lactobacillus fermentum NKN51 was found as an ideal probiotic supplement exhibiting better potential in enhancing the efficiency of broiler birds in terms of improved productivity.