The effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on productive performance of laying hens

Figures & data

Table 1. Composition of diets (as-fed basis).

Items	Amount
Ingredient, %
Corn	50.40
Soybean meal, 46% CP	18.70
Wheat grain	10.00
Corn gluten meal	2.00
Wheat bran	5.00
Animal fat	4.40
Limestone	7.50
Salt	0.30
Tricalcium phosphate (18% P)	1.40
dl-Met (50%)	0.10
Vitamin premix^a	0.10
Trace mineral premix^b	0.10
Calculated value, % of DM
AME, kcal/kg	2904
CP, %	15.00
Lys, %	0.80
Met + Cys, %	0.92
Ca, %	3.25
Total P, %	0.61
Available P, %	0.40
Analyzed composition, % of DM
CP	15.65
Lys	0.89
Met + Cys	1.02
Ca	3.43
Total P	0.68
Available P	0.43

Met: methionine; AME: apparent metabolizable energy; CP: crude protein; Lys: lysine; Cys: cysteine.

a Provided per kg of complete diet: 125,000 U of vitamin A; 2500 U of vitamin D₃; 10 mg of vitamin E; 2 mg of vitamin K₃; 1 mg of vitamin B₁; 5 mg of vitamin B₂; 1 mg of vitamin B₆; 15 mg of vitamin B₁₂; 500 mg of folic acid; 35,000 mg of niacin; 10,000 mg of Ca-pantothenate; and 50 mg of biotin.

b Provided per kg of complete diet: 8 mg of Mn (as MnO₂); 60 mg of Zn (as ZnSO₄); 5 mg of Cu (as CuSO₄·5H₂O); 40 mg of Fe (as FeSO₄·7H₂O); 0.3 mg of Co (as CoSO₄·5H₂O); 1.5 mg of I (as KI); and 0.15 mg of Se (as Na₂SeO₃·5H₂O).

Table 2. Effects of dietary B. amyloliquefaciens supplementation on egg production and egg weight in laying hens.

Items	CON	P1	P2	SEM	p value
Egg production, %
0–3 weeks	89.0	90.8	91.1	0.59	.11
4–6 weeks	89.4^b	91.8^a	92.0^a	0.51	<.05
Egg weight, g
1 week	60.8	62.0	61.5	0.48	.54
3 weeks	59.9	60.7	61.2	0.62	.39
6 weeks	58.2	60.8	58.8	0.76	.47

CON = basal diet (antibiotic free); P1 = CON + 1 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; P2 = CON + 2 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; SEM = standard error of the means (10 replicates per treatment, and three cages per replicate with two hens per cage).

a,b Means in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < .05).

Table 3. Effects of dietary B. amyloliquefaciens supplementation on egg quality in laying hens.

Items	CON	P1	P2	SEM	p value
Initial
Yolk height, mm	8.10	8.20	8.12	0.15	.91
Yolk colour	5.95	6.00	5.80	0.23	.78
Haugh unit	87.05	87.14	87.10	0.84	.62
Eggshell strength, kg/cm^2	3.38	3.32	3.33	0.07	.75
Eggshell thickness, mm	0.378	0.383	0.390	0.010	.64
3 weeks
Yolk height, mm	8.16	8.13	8.35	0.13	.49
Yolk colour	5.75	6.10	6.03	0.28	.88
Haugh unit	88.18	90.07	89.66	1.14	.90
Eggshell strength, kg/cm^2	3.21^b	3.55^a	3.61^a	0.08	<.05
Eggshell thickness, mm	0.381^b	0.413^a	0.426^a	0.009	<.05
6 weeks
Yolk height, mm	8.01	8.13	8.36	0.10	.37
Yolk colour	6.3	5.95	6.25	0.20	.49
Haugh unit	88.09	90.69	90.42	1.25	.58
Eggshell strength, kg/cm^2	3.27^b	3.47^ab	3.79^a	0.09	<.05
Eggshell thickness, mm	0.387^b	0.420^a	0.441^a	0.007	<.01

CON = basal diet (antibiotic free); P1 = CON + 1 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; P2 = CON + 2 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; SEM = standard error of the means (10 replicates per treatment, and three cages per replicate with two hens per cage).

a,b Means in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < .05).

Table 4. Effects of dietary B. amyloliquefaciens supplementation on blood cell counts in laying hens.

Items	CON	P1	P2	SEM	p value
WBC, ×10^3/mm^3	4.83	4.66	4.50	0.42	.41
RBC, ×10^6/mm^3	2.67	2.15	2.50	0.40	.72
Lymphocyte, %	69.57	71.61	70.53	2.56	.75

CON = basal diet (antibiotic free); P1 = CON + 1 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; P2 = CON + 2 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; SEM = standard error of the means (10 replicates per treatment, and three cages per replicate with two hens per cage).

Table 5. Effects of dietary B. amyloliquefaciens supplementation on caecal microflora in laying hens.

Items, log10 cfu/g	CON	P1	P2	SEM	p value
Lactobacillus, spp.	7.46^b	7.79^a	7.80^a	0.11	<.05
Escherichia coli	6.68^a	6.35^b	6.29^b	0.10	<.05
Salmonella, spp.	2.06^a	1.62^b	1.64^b	0.08	<.01

CON = basal diet (antibiotic free); P1 = CON + 1 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; P2 = CON + 2 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; SEM = standard error of the means (10 replicates per treatment, and three cages per replicate with two hens per cage).

a,b Means in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < .05).

Table 6. Effects of dietary B. amyloliquefaciens supplementation on excreta odour contents in laying hens.

Items, ppm	CON	P1	P2	SEM	p value
NH3	49.2^a	35.3^b	36.5^b	2.9	<.05
H2S	6.6	6.7	6.4	0.4	.20
R.SH	5.8	5.5	4.8	0.5	.47

CON = basal diet (antibiotic free); P1 = CON + 1 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; P2 = CON + 2 × 10⁷ cfu of B. amyloliquefaciens/kg of diet; SEM = standard error of the means (10 replicates per treatment, and three cages per replicate with two hens per cage).

a,b Means in the same row with different superscripts differ (p < .05).