Comparative effects of dietary Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus coagulans and Flavophospholipol supplements on growth performance, intestinal microflora and jejunal morphology of Japanese quail

Abstract The current experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different types of probiotics on growth performance, carcass traits, intestinal microflora, and jejunal morphology of Japanese quail in comparison with Flavophospholipol antibiotic supplement. A total of 540 one-day old quail chicks were randomly divided into five groups with six replicates (18 birds per pen). The experimental groups included: a basal-diet as control, or the basal diet supplemented with 650 mg/kg Flavophospholipol antibiotic, 200 mg/kg Bacillus subtilis (4×109 CFU/g), 200 mg/kg Bacillus coagulans (2×1011 CFU/g), and 200 mg/kg Bacillus subtilis (4×109 CFU/g)plus Bacillus coagulans (2×1011 CFU/g). Inclusion of B. subtilis probiotic in the diet increased body weight gain (BWG) significantly from 22 to 35 d and from 1 to 35 d compared with control and antibiotic groups (P