Impact of Multi-strain Probiotics Supplementation on Growth, Immune Responses and Physiological Traits in Backyard Poultry of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Neha Halder^1,2SIDDHARTHA NARAYAN JOARDAR²Jai Sunder¹Arun Kumar De¹Debasis Bhattacharya¹Ahmed Abd El Wahed³Rea Maja Kobialka^3*Madanan G Madathiparambil⁴Samiran Mondal⁵

• ¹Division of Animal Science, ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, India
• ²Department of Veterinary Microbiology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (W.B.U.A.F.S), Kolkata, India
• ³Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
• ⁴Division of Biochemistry, ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair, India
• ⁵Department of Veterinary Pathology, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (W.B.U.A.F.S), Kolkata, India

Probiotics are important for gut microbial health by its action mechanism and modulation of host immune system. No prior research has been conducted in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India to elucidate the direct influence of probiotics on overall health and immunity of rural backyard poultry. To explore an efficient alternative to commercially available antibiotics, a commercial multi-strain probiotic (Bifilac R ) was evaluated in Vanaraja, a popular backyard poultry variety reared in the islands. 120 newly hatched Vanaraja chicks were chosen, 30 chicks were randomly allocated into 4 different groups for 60 days. In negative control (NC), chicks were fed only basal diet. For the positive control (PC), chicks were fed with basal diet + antibiotic growth promoter (AGP-Tetracycline). Test group (T1) was fed basal diet +0.1% of Bifilac R . The test group (T2) was fed basal diet +0.3% of Bifilac R . The results showed that the mean body weight of chicks supplemented with 0.1% (T1) and 0.3% (T2) multi-strain probiotics was significantly higher (p≤0.05) than that of control groups. A significant increase in feed conversion ratio (FCR) was observed among test groups at different time intervals. Both T1 and T2 expressed significant changes (p≤0.05) in biochemical parameters such as total protein, globulin, albumin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), bilirubin, glucose at different time intervals than control groups. A substantial decrease (p≤0.05) was noticed in T1 and T2 in the levels of triglycerides, HDLc, LDLc, total cholesterol, superoxide production, lipid peroxidation at different time intervals. An apparent surge (p≤0.05) was observed in the levels of HSP70, IL-4, IL-2, and lymphocyte proliferation in T1 and T2 compared to control groups. After histomorphological analysis, an increase(p≤0.05) in villi height (µm) and crypt depth (µm) in duodenum and jejunum of chicks were noticed in T1 and T2. In short, multi-strain probiotics supplementation showed its potential as an overall growth promoter in terms of improved growth performance, favorable physiological functions, enhanced immunomodulatory effects and better intestinal morphology in a widely reared backyard poultry breed of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, hence can be nominated as a potential alternative to commercial antibiotics at ground level.