Year: 2016 | Month: February | Volume 6 | Issue 1
Effect of Dietary Combination of Probiotics and Prebiotic on Performance Indices and Haematological Parameters in Pearl Guinea Fowls (Numida meleagris)
Abstract:
The study aims to evaluate the effects of a commercial probiotics and prebiotic combination on performance indices and haematological parameters of guinea fowls. A total of forty (n=40) day-old pearl guinea fowls raised to 12-week-old were used for the study. The fowls were wing-banded, weighed individually and randomly allocated into two groups of 20 fowls each, with each having two replicates. Experimental fowls were fed grower diet supplemented with 0.5 g of probiotics and prebiotic combination per kg feed for 8 weeks, while the control fowls were fed a grower diet that was not supplemented. Feed consumption and water intake were recorded daily, chest circumference, body weight, percentage weigh gain and feed conversion ratio were measured weekly, while blood samples were collected in the last week of the experiment to evaluate the haematological parameters. All birds were kept under similar environmental, managerial and hygienic conditions. The results revealed that experimental fowls had significantly (P < 0.05) higher feed consumption, water intake, total protein, packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC) count and haemoglobin (Hb), but lower total leucocyte count (TLC) compared with control. No significant difference was observed in other haematological parameters and performance indices between the two groups. In conclusion, 0.5 g/kg diet of prebiotics and probiotic combination improved erythropoiesis and nutritional status of guinea fowls; however, the results of performance indices suggest that this dose may not be optimum, thus necessitating the need for more research using other dosages.
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