Bukola Ayilara
Federal University of Agriculture, Nigeria
Title: Effects of probiotics on growth and nutrient utilization of yearling calves
Biography
Biography: Bukola Ayilara
Abstract
The current study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of yearling calves supplemented with varying levels of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Bacillus subtilis. The Experiment was carried out at the cattle unit of the teaching and research farm directorate of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Ogun State, Nigeria. The laboratory works were carried out at the Institute of Agricultural Research And Training, Ibadan, College of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Animal Nutrition, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. A total of twenty-four yearling calves were assigned to four groups of treatments with three animals per treatment. The animals were allotted to eight dietary treatments containing B. subtilis and S. cerevisiae at different inclusion levels with two control diets in a 2x4 factorial design and Panicum maximum fed as the basal diet. Final weight, total weight gain, daily weight gain, concentrate intake, total feed intake, daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio and intake per body weight were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by both the probiotics and the levels of inclusion. S. cerevisiae supplementation had a higher significant (p<0.05) values in the parameters measured while B. subtilis supplementation had lower values. On the other hand, B. subtilis supplementation had higher significant values in feed conversion ratio while S. cerevisiae supplementation had lower values. From the study, it was shown that supplementation of the diets of calves with probiotics at various levels increased nutrient intake, digestibility coefficients, feed intake, weight gain and nutrient digestibility of the calves.