Studies on Synergistic Effects of Certain Common Feed Additives on Carcass Quality, Intestinal pH and Gut Microflora in Broilers Munj C.P., Ranade A.S., Desai D.N., Avari P.E., Patil U.M., Metakari D.V. Department of Poultry Science, Bombay Veterinary College, Mumbai - 400012, India ABSTRACT Synergistic effect of prebiotics, probiotics and acidifier, singly or in combination was investigated on the performance of 400, day-old ‘Vencob'broilers, by dividing them in eight equal groups including a control group. In the treatment groups control diet was supplemented with prebiotic @ 2 kg/ton in prestarter, @1 kg/ton in starter and @ 0.5 kg/ton of feed in finisher diet; probiotic @ 100 g/ton in prestarter and starter, and @ 50 g/ton of feed in finisher diet; acidifier @ 1 kg/ton of feed in all the three diets, either singly or in combinations at respective dose rates. The use of different feed additives in the diets of broilers improved carcass quality by reducing liver weight, heart weight and abdominal fat percentage. Further, pH of the intestinal contents in all the treatments was marginally higher than that of intestinal contents of control group. Supplementation of various feed additives found to be beneficial for the reduction of total coliform count of intestine. Top Keywords Broilers, Feed additives, Prebiotic, Probiotic, Acidifier, Coliform. Top |