AUTHOR=Eeckhaut Venessa , Wang Jun , Van Parys Alexander , Haesebrouck Freddy , Joossens Marie , Falony Gwen , Raes Jeroen , Ducatelle Richard , Van Immerseel Filip 

TITLE=The Probiotic Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum Reduces Feed Conversion and Protects from Potentially Harmful Intestinal Microorganisms and Necrotic Enteritis in Broilers

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01416

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01416

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Probiotics which do not result in the development and spread of microbial resistance are among the candidate replacements for antibiotics previously used as growth promotors. In this study the effect of in-feed supplementation of the butyrate producing <italic>Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum</italic> strain 25-3<sup>T</sup> on performance, intestinal microbiota and prevention of necrotic enteritis (NE), a disease caused by <italic>Clostridium perfringens</italic> was evaluated in broilers. For the performance study, day old Ross 308 chicks were randomly allocated into two treatment groups and fed either a non-supplemented diet or a diet supplemented with 10<sup>9</sup> cfu lyophilized <italic>B. pullicaecorum</italic> per kg feed for 40 days. On day 40 broilers administered <italic>B. pullicaecorum</italic> had a significant lower bodyweight (2675 g vs. 2762 g; <italic>p</italic> = 0.0025) but supplementation of <italic>B. pullicaecorum</italic> decreased the feed conversion ratio significantly (1.518 vs. 1.632; <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001). Additionally, ingestion of the <italic>Butyricicoccus</italic> strain significantly lowered the abundance of <italic>Campylobacter</italic> spp. in the caecum and <italic>Enterococcus</italic> and <italic>Escherichia</italic>/<italic>Shigella</italic> spp. in the ileum at day 40. In feed supplementation of <italic>B. pullicaecorum</italic> in the NE trials resulted in a significant decrease in the number of birds with necrotic lesions compared with the untreated control group. These studies show that supplementation of <italic>B. pullicaecorum</italic> is able to improve feed conversion, to reduce the abundance of some potentially important pathogens in the caeca and ileum and to contribute to the prevention of NE in broilers, making the strain a potential valuable probiotic.</p>