The Use of Fermented Soybean Meals during Early Phase Affects Subsequent Growth and Physiological Response in Broiler Chicks

The objectives of this experiment was to evaluate the subsequent growth and organ weights, blood profiles and cecal microbiota of broiler chicks fed pre-starter diets containing fermented soybean meal products during early phase. A total of nine hundred 1-d-old chicks were randomly assigned into six groups with six replicates of 25 chicks each. The chicks were fed control pre-starter diet with dehulled soybean meal (SBM) or one of five experimental diets containing fermented SBM products (Bacillus fermented SBM [BF-SBM], yeast by product and Bacillus fermented SBM [YBF-SBM]; Lactobacillus fermented SBM 1 [LF-SBM 1]; Lactobacillus fermented SBM 2 [LF-SBM 2]) or soy protein concentrate (SPC) for 7 d after hatching, followed by 4 wk feeding of commercial diets without fermented SBMs or SPC. The fermented SBMs and SPC were substituted at the expense of dehulled SBM at 3% level on fresh weight basis. The body weight (BW) during the starter period was not affected by dietary treatments, but BW at 14 d onwards was significantly higher (p<0.05) in chicks that had been fed BF-SBM and YBF-SBM during the early phase compared with the control group. The feed intake during grower and finisher phases was not affected (p>0.05) by dietary treatments. During total rearing period, the daily weight gains in six groups were 52.0 (control), 57.7 (BF-SBM), 58.5 (YBF-SBM), 52.0 (LF-SBM 1), 56.7 (LF-SBM 2), and 53.3 g/d (SPC), respectively. The daily weight gain in chicks fed diet containing BF-SBM, YBF-SBM, and LF-SBM 2 were significantly higher values (p<0.001) than that of the control group. Chicks fed BF-SBM, YBF-SBM, and LF-SBM 2 had significantly lower (p<0.01) feed conversion ratio compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in the relative weight of various organs and blood profiles among groups. Cecal microbiota was altered by dietary treatments. At 35 d, chicks fed on the pre-starter diets containing BF-SBM and YBF-SBM had significantly increased (p<0.001) lactic acid bacteria, but lowered Coli-form bacteria in cecal contents compared with those fed the control diet. The number of Bacillus spp. was higher (p<0.001) in all groups except for LF-SBM 1 compared with control diet-fed chicks. At 7 d, jejunal villi were significantly lengthened (p<0.001) in chicks fed the fermented SBMs vs control diet. Collectively, the results indicate that feeding of fermented SBMs during early phase are beneficial to the subsequent growth performance in broiler chicks. BF-SBM and YBF-SBM showed superior overall growth performance as compared with unfermented SBM and SPC.