Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Fermented Rice Bran on Growth Performance, Blood Parameters, and Intestinal Microflora in Broiler Chickens

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with microbially-fermented rice bran on growth performance in broiler chickens. A total of one hundred and twenty 1-day-old broiler chickens, were randomly assigned to 5 dietary treatments in cages of 4 chicks each; each treatment had 6 replicate cages. A basal diet, formulated to be adequate in energy and nutrients, as well as four experimental diets, prepared by adding one of four ingredients 0.025% avilamycin, 1% Lactobacillus fermented rice bran, 1% Saccharomyces fermented rice bran, and 1% Bacillus fermented rice bran to the basal diet, were given to the birds over a 35-d period. The results indicated that BW gain during the first 21 d (starter period), growing periods (22 to 35d), and over the entire experimental period (0 to 35 d) was (P<0.01) different among treatments. Feed intake and feed conversion ratio varied significantly (P<0.05) across treatments in the starter period but not the growth period, or the overall experiment. The dietary supplements had no effect on any serum parameters except for total cholesterol, which was significantly lower for the supplements than the basal diet. Finally, intestinal flora Lactobacillus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella did not vary across treatments. Our results suggest that the supplementation of poultry diet with fermented rice bran may be used to improve growth performance in broiler chickens.