Table 4.
Immune and digestive performance in 0~6-week-old pullets and skeleton growth and abdominal fat deposition in 7~16-week-old pullets.
| Items | AGP | BA3 | BA6 | BA12 | BA16 | SEM | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMMUNE AND DIGESTIVE PERFORMANCE AT 3 WEEKS OF AGE | ||||||||
| Organ indexes (g/kg) | Thymus | 6.00 | 5.77 | 5.97 | 5.80 | 5.86 | 0.17 | 0.991 |
| Spleen | 1.78 | 1.67 | 2.13 | 1.58 | 2.21 | 0.53 | 0.372 | |
| Bursa of fabricius | 5.84 | 5.47 | 6.07 | 6.01 | 5.68 | 0.18 | 0.783 | |
| Crop | 5.15 | 4.66 | 4.63 | 4.61 | 5.05 | 0.11 | 0.647 | |
| Proventriculus | 7.31 | 7.44 | 7.91 | 7.39 | 7.74 | 0.10 | 0.664 | |
| Gizzard | 37.82 | 40.55 | 38.24 | 39.65 | 39.94 | 0.16 | 0.611 | |
| Duodenum | 12.70 | 12.09 | 14.06 | 11.07 | 11.44 | 0.39 | 0.119 | |
| Jejunum | 17.72 | 17.50 | 18.26 | 17.23 | 17.78 | 0.34 | 0.917 | |
| Ileum | 14.73 | 11.86 | 13.32 | 13.16 | 13.16 | 0.35 | 0.143 | |
| Caecum | 6.29 | 6.03 | 6.58 | 6.18 | 7.06 | 0.18 | 0.395 | |
| Amylase activity (U/mgprot) | Duodenum | 9.19 | 28.73 | – | – | – | 8.61 | 0.084 |
| Jejunum | 92.99 | 65.08 | – | – | – | 46.37 | 0.564 | |
| Ileum | 129.87b | 197.60a | – | – | – | 25.27 | 0.028 | |
| IMMUNE AND DIGESTIVE PERFORMANCE AT 6-WEEKS OF AGE | ||||||||
| Weight homogeneity (%) | 79.53 | 86.03 | 83.45 | – | – | 2.20 | 0.542 | |
| Organ indexes (g/kg) | Thymus | 5.15 | 5.77 | 5.33 | 5.23 | 4.84 | 0.20 | 0.711 |
| Spleen | 4.06 | 3.00 | 3.19 | 3.37 | 3.83 | 0.19 | 0.083 | |
| Bursa of Fabricius | 1.39 | 1.39 | 1.14 | 1.18 | 1.17 | 0.28 | 0.342 | |
| Crop | 4.33 | 4.55 | 5.42 | 4.68 | 4.39 | 0.22 | 0.151 | |
| Proventriculus | 6.36 | 6.05 | 6.73 | 5.69 | 6.45 | 0.17 | 0.198 | |
| Gizzard | 36.30 | 34.44 | 37.39 | 32.96 | 34.38 | 0.49 | 0.492 | |
| Duodenum | 9.69 | 10.22 | 10.44 | 8.78 | 9.34 | 0.26 | 0.268 | |
| Jejunum | 15.20 | 14.83 | 16.54 | 14.09 | 14.58 | 0.32 | 0.147 | |
| Ileum | 10.72 | 10.46 | 11.70 | 10.32 | 10.50 | 0.23 | 0.343 | |
| Caecum | 6.43 | 6.07 | 6.87 | 5.67 | 6.50 | 0.16 | 0.151 | |
| Amylase activity (U/mgprot) | Duodenum | 4.32 | 8.37 | 11.36 | – | – | 1.92 | 0.348 |
| Jejunum | 284.20 | 613.60 | 347.09 | – | – | 75.70 | 0.172 | |
| Ileum | 194.17 | 232.83 | 269.21 | – | – | 29.99 | 0.645 | |
| LENGTH OF TIBIA AND KEEL AT 12 WEEKS OF AGE | ||||||||
| Length of tibia (cm) | 10.13 | 9.80 | 9.76 | 9.99 | – | 0.06 | 0.127 | |
| Length of and keel (cm) | 9.40 | 9.34 | 9.32 | 9.36 | – | 0.02 | 0.410 | |
| ABDOMINAL FAT WEIGHT AT 16 WEEKS OF AGE | ||||||||
| Abdominal fat (g) | 5.85 | 3.75 | 4.22 | 4.50 | 7.74 | 0.54 | 0.116 | |
AGP, the AGPs group (supplemented with AGPs based on basal diets for 16 weeks); BA3, the BA3 group (supplemented with AGPs and B. subtilis based on basal diets for 3 weeks); BA6, the BA6 group (supplemented with AGPs and B. subtilis based on basal diets for 6 weeks); BA12, the BA12 group (supplemented with AGPs and B. subtilis based on basal diets for 12 weeks); BA16, the BA16 group (supplemented with AGPs and B. subtilis based on basal diets for 16 weeks). The different superscripted capital letters in the same segment indicate an adjusted significant difference at P < 0.05.