Effect of Feeding Probiotic Feed Supplement on the Growth Performance of Kids

A feeding trial of 180 days was conducted to evaluate the effect of probiotic feed supplementation on growth performance of kids. Thirty kids (3–4 months) were randomly divided in to three equal groups of ten each on the basis of body weight (11.9 -12.2 kg). Kids of group-I were maintained solely on grazing and served as the control, while in group-II concentrate was fed at 1.5% of body weight along with grazing. In addition to concentrate and grazing kids in group-III were supplemented with microbial feed additives at 3g/animal/d. All the three groups were maintained on grazing for 6–8 hrs, groups-II and group-III were fed concentrate mixture and microbial feed supplement individually. The average daily gain was significantly (P<0.05) higher in Group-III (70.98±6.67g) as compared to group-II (64.00±8.41 g.) and control group-I (38.01±5.20 g.). Return cost per animal weight gain were Rs. 936.0 in group 2 and Rs. 1188.0 in group 3. Supplementations of microbial feed additives in diet of kids had positive influence on growth rate.