Volume 11, Issue 1: 08-12; January 25, 2021
EFFECT OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF PROBIOTIC, PHYTOBIOTICS OR
THEIR COMBINATION ON PERFORMANCE, BLOOD INDICES AND JEJUNAL
MORPHOLOGY OF LAYING HENS DURING POST PEAK PRODUCTION
Rahmad HIDAYAT, Vitus Dwi YUNIANTO, Bambang SUKAMTO and Sugiharto SUGIHARTO
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia
Supporting Information
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of probiotic
(Lactobacillus acidophilus), phytobiotics (bay leaves, onion peel and garlic peel) or their combination on blood
parameters, morphology of digestive tract and performance of laying hens. The experiment used 144 laying
hens aged 72 weeks old, and divided into 6 treatments including Ctl (basal feed as control); Pr (basal feed +
1.2 mL/day of probiotic L. acidophilus); Ph2 (basal diet + 2% phytobiotic of diet); PrPh2 (basal diet + 1.2
mL/day probiotic + 2% phytobiotic); PrPh4 (basal diet +1.2 mL/day probiotic + 4% phytobiotic) and PrPh6
(basal diet + 1.2 mL/day probiotic + 6% phytobiotic). Feed intake and egg mass were weekly recorded. One
chick from each replicate was blood sampled and then slaughtered for data collection. Results showed that
treatments had no effect on hemoglobin, erythrocyte and leukocyte of hens. The control hens had higher levels
of cholesterol and LDL than that of PrPh2, PrPh4 and PrPh6 hens. HDL level tended to be higher in PrPh2 and
PrPh4 as compared to control hens. Compared to control, the villi height of jejunum was higher in the treated
hens, with PrPh4 had the highest villi height. Ileal protein digestibility tended to be higher in the treated than
that in control hens. Also, there was a clear tendency that feed conversion ratio was lower in the treated hens
than that of control. In conclusion, the combined use of probiotics and phytobiotics improved physiological
condition, ileal histomorphology, ileal protein digestibility and feed conversion of laying hens during post peak
production.
Keywords: Garlic, Herb, Laying Hen, Phytobiotic, Probiotic.
INTRODUCTION
Egg production declines after laying hens reaching the peak of production. Antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) was often
administrated to feed to slowdown the declining rate in egg production after the peak production (Salim et al., 2018). In
the digestive system, AGP plays a function in eliminating pathogenic bacterial populations in order to maximize nutrient
absorption by hens (Purbarani et al., 2019). In recent years the use of AGP has been banned in many countries, including
Indonesia. This is due to several negative effects of AGP, e.g., there is residue that found in livestock products, so that it
can endanger human health. These health risks include bacterial resistance, allergies to the products consumed, the high
risk of illness from poisoning, etc. (Deko et al., 2018).
Various alternatives to AGP substitute for poultry have been studied, one of which is probiotics (Sugiharto et al.,
2017). One of the most widely used probiotic bacteria in the poultry industry is Lactobacillus achidophilus (Saputra et al.,
2020). Indeed, the use of L. acidophilus was reported to improve physiological conditions, health status (Siadati et al.,
2017), growth of intestinal villi (Hedayati and Manafi, 2018), nutrient digestibility and performance of poultry (De Cesare
et al., 2017). Another alternative ingredient that can be used as a substitute for AGP are herbal ingredient or phytobiotics
(Haniarti et al., 2019). Phytobiotic that can be used as feed additive in poultry include bay leaves (Santoso et al., 2017),
garlic peel (Benítez et al., 2011) and onion peel (Rahmawati et al., 2019). Previous studies have reported that bay leaf
flour added to feed has an effect on the microflora of the digestive tract of broiler chickens (Sjofjan et al., 2019).
Meanwhile, the use of garlic and onion peels and their combination in feed could increase the digestibility of feed protein
and performance of duck (Saputra et al., 2016) and reduce triglyceride levels in the blood of broiler chicken (Kim et al.,
2009). Besides having a high flavonoid content, these herbal ingredients have also been reported to contain
oligosaccharides which can act as prebiotics, which are useful for the growth of probiotic bacteria (Babbar et al., 2016).
To increase its effectiveness as an alternative to AGP, probiotics are often combined with other active ingredients
such as phytobiotics. Chang et al. (2019) reported that multi strains of probiotics supplemented with herb (Gardeniae
fructus) can suppress the growth of pathogenic bacteria and increase the growth of the intestinal villi of broiler chickens.
The combination of L. acidophilus with Dayak onion extract added to feed could also improve nutrient digestibility, health
conditions and performance of broilers (Yuanita et al., 2019). Likewise, the combined use of Lactobacillus spp. and ginger
and turmeric extracts improved production performance and health parameters of broilers (Risdianto et al., 2019).
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Citation: Hidayat R, Yunianto VD, Sukamto B and Sugiharto S (2021). Effect of dietary supplementation of probiotic, phytobiotics or their combination on performance,
blood indices and jejunal morphology of laying hens during post peak production. Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 11(1): 08-12. DOI: