Comparative effects of probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic supplements on performance, jejunal morphology, serum lipid profile and antibody response of broiler chicks

A 42-d trial was conducted to compare the effects of probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic supplements on growth performance, morphology of the jejunum, serum lipid profile and antibody response of broiler chickens. A total of 400 one-d-old male broiler chicks were randomly divided into four treatment groups of four replicates (25 birds per replicate) and fed corn-soybean meal diets. The dietary treatments consisted of a basal diet without any feed additive (control diet), a basal diet with added probiotics (diet Pro), a basal diet with added prebiotics (diet Pre), and a basal diet with added synbiotics (diet Syn). The birds fed diet Syn exhibited higher body weight gain (BWG) and better feed conversion ratio (FCR) than those fed the control diet during the entire experimental period (PPPP