Table 5.
Cecal microbiota composition (log10 CFU/g wet cecal digesta) of broilers supplemented with either an antibiotic or a phytogenic feed additive during 1–39 days of age*.
| Dietary treatments† |
SEM | P value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | AGP | PFA | |||
| Coliforms | 5.54a | 5.62a | 5.10b | 0.07 | <0.01 |
| Anaerobic bacteria | 5.91a | 5.64b | 5.53b | 0.04 | <0.01 |
| Staphylococcus aureus | 2.61 | 1.24 | 1.14 | 0.49 | 0.06 |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | 4.81 | 4.74 | 4.84 | 0.06 | 0.27 |
| Lactobacillus spp. | 4.96b | 5.01b | 5.35a | 0.04 | <0.01 |
| Clostridium spp. | 5.17a | 4.95b | 4.97b | 0.03 | 0.01 |
Means with dissimilar letters in a row varied significantly.
*Means of 12 birds per treatment. Birds were randomly selected and euthanized at 39 days of age.
†Supplemented with either an antibiotic growth promoter, bacitracin methylene disalicylate, 500 mg/kg (AGP), or a phytogenic feed additive (Digestarom® Poultry) 150 mg/kg (PFA). The control group received the unsupplemented basal diet.