Influence of feed additives used in prevention of coccidiosis on the quality of enteric microflora of fast-growing and slowgrowing chickens

AbstractThe experiment was conducted on 480 Hubbard Flex chickens (fast-growing) reared to 42 days of age and 480 Hubbard JA 957 chickens (slow-growing) reared to 63 day of age. Day-old chicks were randomly assigned to the three following groups accord-ing to the type of coccidiostat: C (control - no coccidiostat in the diet and birds not vaccinated against coccidiosis), A (plant coc-cidiostat adiCox ® AP), and M (monensin coccidiostat). At the end of rearing period the results of the controlled production were presented, the chickens were slaughtered and samples of their intestines were collected for microflora composition analyses.The obtained results show that rearing time influenced the com-position of enteric microflora (small intestine and blind gut). Moreover, a higher total count of bacteria was stated in intesti-nal digesta of the slow-growing chickens that were kept for three weeks longer than the Hubbard Flex chickens.The study also proved a positive influence of the diet on the quan-titative composition of enteric microflora. The lowest count of me-sophilic bacteria and those from the