Effects of Clostridium butyricum and Lactobacillus plantarum on growth performance, immune function and volatile fatty acid level of caecal digesta in broilers

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum and Lactobacillus plantarum on growth performance, immune function and volatile fatty acid (VFA) level of caecal digesta in broilers. One hundred and forty broilers were assigned to five groups (CON: basal diet; CB: basal diet+C. butyricum; MLP: basal diet+ L. plantarum; MIX: basal diet+ C. butyricum + L. plantarum; ANT: basal diet + Aureomycin). The results showed that, birds in CB group had greater serum IgM level than that in control group at day 21 (P<.05). Birds in MIX group had greater serum IgM and IgA levels than those in MLP group at day 42 (P>.05). The current results indicated that dietary supplementation of C. butyricum increased serum immunoglobulin level and VFA level of caecal digesta in broilers, but a combination of supplementations with C. butyricum and L. plantarum had no significant effect on growth performance.