*Department of Microbiology, College of Basic Sciences.
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur-176 062, India
Online published on 29 December, 2011.
Three microbial isolates from the faecal material of leopard (Panthera leo), were identified as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus faecalis and Saccftaro-myces carlsbergensis. These were studied for their effect on the biological performance of commercial broilers vis-a-vis their respective standard counterparts (Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus lactis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) The differences in growth rates and feed conversion ratios in treatment groups as compared to control and in between treatments were non-significant during the starter phase and became significant only during the finisher phase. L. acidophilus sand S. faecalis showed significantly (P<0.05) higher growth response and feed conversion ratio than control and other treatments during the growth period. Mortality was highest in control grou p because of the sporadic cases of coccidiosis, which was not observed under the treatment groups. The differences in the dressing percentage were significantly (P<0.05) higher in all the three microbial isolates as compared to not only control but also their respective standards. Counts of the ingested beneficial microbes were highest in the small intestines of broilers fed L. acidophilus followed by that of S. faecalis and their trend of colonization gave a direct reflection in their growth response.
