Modulation of Growth Performance and Intestinal Microbiota in Chickens Fed Plant Extracts or Virginiamycin.

ABSTRACT: In this study, the effects of plant extracts (PEs) and virginiamycin (VIRG) on broiler growth performance, as well as on host intestinal microbiota composition and function were investigated. A total of 288 one-day-old male Cobb broiler chickens were randomly divided into four treatment groups (with six replicates per group). The duodenal, ileal, and cecal content of six broilers per treatment group after 14 and 28 days of treatment were sampled. This material was used for high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that chickens fed 400 mg/kg plant extracts (HPE group) had significantly higher average body weights at day 28 as compared to the control group (CT; P < 0.05), and lower feed-to-meat ratios over days 15-42 (P < 0.01). Within

SUBMITTER: Zhu N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6591263 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature