Effects of probiotic and butyric acid supplementation in the diets on performance and E.coli in feces of growing Grimaud duck
An experiment (Exp) was conducted to determine the effects of probiotic and butyric acid products supplementation in diets on growth performance and E.coli in feces of Grimaud ducks. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomize design with 3 treatments and 3 replications with 20 ducks/pen (10 male + 10 female). The treatments were: 1/ ĐC: Basal diet (BD) without any product supplementations; 2/ PRO: BD + 1.0 g probiotic /kg feed; 3/ ABU: BD + 1 g butyric acid /kg feed. Results showed that the average daily gain (TKL) of ducks fed ĐC (64.25 g/head/day) was lowest, and the highest was found in PRO (66.57 g/head/day) and ABU (65.32 g/head/day). Average daily feed intake (TTTA) was almost similar in supplemented diets to compare with control diet. Therefore, feed conversion ratio (FCR) of ducks fed PRO (2.02 kg feed/kg gain) was better than that in ĐC (2.05 kg feed)/kg gain) and ABU (2.07 kg feed/kg gain). The density of E.coli bacteria in feces reduced in ABU (2.03 and 2.55 × 106 CFU /g feces) compared to PRO (2.31 and 2.72 × 106 CFU /g feces) and ĐC (3.51 and 3.89 × 106 CFU /g feces) at 21 and 42 days, respectively. There was no difference in the slaughter parameters such as carcass percentage, thigh and breast meat percentage among ducks in 3 treatments. In conclusion, supplementation of probiotic or butyric acid in Grimaud duck diets tended to improve weight gain and reduce E.coli density in the feces, but not with feed conversion ratio compared with control diet.
