Abstract

An experiment was conducted with Japanese quails to investigate the effects of supplementing yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on their performance. A total number of 300-day old quail chicks were distributed to three dietary treatments with four replicates per each treatment group, i.e. basal diet fed T1 (control), basal diet supplemented with 1 gm of yeast/kg of feed (T2) and basal diet supplemented with 2 gm of yeast/kg of feed (T3). At the end of the experimental period of 35 days, slaughter weight, carcass weight and intestinal microbial count were recorded. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 21. Both pre-slaughter weight and carcass weight did not show any significant differences (P<0.05) among the treatment groups. Pre-slaughter weight (gm) of T2 (212.67±16.75) and T3 (217.33±11.33) were numerically higher than the control group T1 (195.00±16.05). The carcass weight (gm) of T2 (125.83±9.04) and T3 (128.17±9.04) were numerically higher than the control group T1 (123.50±8.84). Analysis of data showed significant difference (P<0.05) between T1 and the other two groups (T2 and T3) for Enterobacteriaceae spp. count in ileum (T1 (4.08±0.31), T2 (3.68±0.22), T3 (3.53±0.12)), colon (T1 (4.23±0.24), T2 (3.92±0.50), T3 (3.62±0.13)) and caeca (T1 (4.03±0.24), T2 (3.70±0.15), T3 (3.55±0.05)). The results of the study showed that dietary supplementation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae @ 1 g/kg feed helps to improve the pre-slaughter weight and carcass weight of the quails and to reduce the colonization of the pathogenic bacteria in intestine. Hence, the study suggests the potential use of yeast as replacement for antibiotic growth promoters in poultry feeding.

Keywords : Yeast, Antibiotic Resistance, Probiotics, Pathogenic Bacterial Count