Tag Archives: synbiotic

5–12 A. Arne and A. Ilgaza
The effect of synbiotic inulin and enterococcus bacteria on digestive health and weight gain in calves
Abstract |
Full text PDF (926 KB)

The effect of synbiotic inulin and enterococcus bacteria on digestive health and weight gain in calves

A. Arne* and A. Ilgaza

Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, K. Helmaņa street 8, LV-3004 Jelgava, Latvia
*Correspondence: arne.astra@gmail.com

Abstract:

The aim of study was to investigate the effect of a synbiotic containing Enterococcus bacteria and 3 different concentrations of inulin on the performance and health status of calves. Forty randomly selected healthy male Holstein crossbreed calves 23 (+/- 5) days old and weighing 50 kg (+/- 5 kg) were randomly allocated to 4 groups: control group (CoG n = 10) fed only whole milk, and 3 synbiotic supplemented groups: 1) SynG6 n = 10, 2) SynG12 n = 10, 3) SynG24 n = 10, in which calves received various amounts of prebiotic inulin (artichoke powder 6 g, 12 g, and 24 g) with 0.25 g of the probiotic Enterococcus faecium (2×109 CFU g-1). At the end of this study all three synbiotic group weight gains were significantly greater than the control group (p < 0.01). SynG12 (12 g artichoke powder) group’s weight gain was significantly greater than control and the 6 g and 24 g synbiotic groups (p < 0.05). The average cold carcass weight results were similar to the live weight results: SynG12 was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than SynG6 and SynG24. Supplementing feedings with this combination of the synbiotic containing 6 g of inulin (produce in Latvia) mixed with Enterococcus (Protexin, UK) bacteria (SynG12) was most effective in achieving the greatest daily weight gain and cold carcass weight.

Key words:

, , , , ,