Supplementation of lauric acid, probiotic and their combination on performance and immune response of commercial broiler chicken

The objective of the present study was to determine the synergistic effect of lauric acid and probiotic on the performance of broiler chicken. A total of 250-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly distributed into five dietary treatment groups each having ten replicates with five chicks in each and were raised for a period of 42 days. Diets contained T₁-control diet, T₂-0.05% antibiotic (AB), T₃-0.05% lauric acid (LA), T₄-0.1% probiotic in the form of Bacillus subtilis PB6 (BS), and T₅-0.05% organic acid +0.1% probiotic. The results revealed significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight gain, feed consumption and better feed conversion in LA+BS combination group followed by LA and BS alone compared to antibiotic (AB) and control diet at 42 d. The percent breast yield and thymus weights were increased (P<0.05) in LA and BS as compared to control diets. Humoral immune response (NDV titers) was higher (P<0.05) in LA+BS group followed by BS compared to control and AB. Further, no significant ((P>0.05) effect was observed on cutaneous basophilic hypersensitivity response among different treatments. Therefore, it can be concluded that supplementation of lauric acid (0.05%) + probiotic (0.1%) combination could be safely included as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoter in broilers.