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Abstract
1. Various dosages of metabolite combinations of the Lactobacillus plantarum RI11, RG14 and RG11 strains (COM456) were used to study the egg production, faecal microflora population, faecal pH, small intestine morphology, and plasma and egg yolk cholesterol in laying hens.
2. A total of 500 Lohmann Brown hens were raised from 19 weeks to 31 weeks of age. The birds were randomly divided into 5 groups and fed on various treatment diets: (i) basal diet without supplementation of metabolites (control); (ii) basal diet supplemented with 0·3% COM456 metabolites; (iii) basal diet supplemented with 0·6% COM456 metabolites; (iv) basal diet supplemented with 0·9% COM456 metabolites; and (v) basal diet supplemented with 1·2% COM456 metabolites.
3. The inclusion of 0·6% liquid metabolite combinations, produced from three L. plantarum strains, demonstrated the best effect in improving the hens’ egg production, faecal lactic acid bacteria population, and small intestine villus height, and reducing faecal pH and Enterobacteriaceae population, and plasma and yolk cholesterol concentrations.
4. The metabolites from locally isolated L. plantarum are a possible alternative feed additive in poultry production.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express sincere gratitude to Lay Hong Berhad for providing the facilities to carry out the study, to S. Patmanaban Saminathan and the farm workers for their kind involvement and valuable dedication throughout the course of the feeding trial and, finally, to Goh Yong Meng, UPM, Malaysia, for assistance in the statistical analysis of data. This study was supported by a grant from Malaysia Technology Development Centre (MTDC).