PROBIOTIC EFFECTS OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIA  ON LAYING CHICKEN FED PALM KERNEL CAKE-BASED DIETS

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the probiotic effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on pullets development and hen-day egg performance of the layers. A total of 120 chicks were brooded for 4 weeks, after which 100 pullets were randomly selected and placed in 4 groups (A-D) of 25 birds each. Groups A, B and C had their feed supplemented with S. cerevisiae at graded levels of 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 g/kg of feed respectively. Group D diet did not contain S. cerevisiae (control).   The diets for all the groups contained 25% PKC and they were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. The pullets were weighed weekly.  At 9th, 15th   and 40th week of age, 5 birds were randomly selected from each pen and 2 ml. of blood collected into an EDTA bottle for haematology. The blood sample was used to determine packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (HbC), total leukocyte count (TLC) and differential leukocyte count following  standard  procedures.    At  10th   and  40th   week  of  age,  3  pullets  were randomly selected from each group and placed in four different cages. The quantity of feed consumed and faeces voided were determined, proximately analyzed and used to determine the apparent digestibility of the diets. Eggs were collected three times daily, weighed and their external qualities were assessed. At the 20th week in lay, another set of 5 layers were randomly selected from each group and 5 ml of blood were collected from each bird and allowed to clot. The serum harvested was used to evaluate the serum biochemistry of the layers. At the 22nd  week in lay, ten eggs were randomly selected from each group and were used to determine the egg

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

There have been several definitions for   the word probiotics over the years.  Lilly and Stillwell (1965) used it to describe substances produced by one protozoan which stimulates another. But Parker (1974) described it as animal feed supplements which had a beneficial effect on the host animal by affecting its gut flora. Fuller (1989) revised the definition and described probiotics as a live microbial feed supplement, which  beneficially  affects  the host  animal  by improving  its  intestinal  microbial balance. Other workers had also given their own definitions of the term probiotic. Donohue et al (1998) described probiotic bacteria as viable bacteria which when applied in a single or mixed culture, exhibit a beneficial effect on the health of the host.  The most recent definition was by Schrezenmeir and De Vrese (2001).  They defined   probiotics   as  viable   microbial   food  supplements   which   beneficially influence the health of the host.   This new definition clearly points out the health promoting effect of probiotic agents. Probiotics were more recently defined by a group of experts convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2005) as “live microorganisms administered in adequate amounts which confer a beneficial health effect on the host”.

The  probiotic  concept  was  introduced  in  the  early 20th  century by Elie Metschnikoff.  Since  then,  different  microorganisms  have  been  used  for  their supposed ability to prevent and cure diseases leading to the coining of the term probiotics,  or “pro-life”  (Lilly and Stillwell, 1965) from two Greek wards ‘pro’

which means ‘for’ or in ‘support’ and ‘bios’ which means ‘life’. About 1900, Henry Tissier,  a French  Pediatrician,  observed  that children  with diarrhea  had  in their stools a low number of bacteria characterized by a peculiar, Y shaped morphology. Those “bifid” bacteria were, on the contrary, abundant in healthy children (Tissier,

1906).  Nobel laureate Elie Metchnikoff in 1907 advocated that the consumption of Lactobacilli helps in controlling endogenous intoxication (autointoxication) caused by wrong types of components in the intestinal flora.  He pointed out that the long, healthy  lives  of  Bulgarian  peasants  were  the  result  of  their  consumption  of fermented milk products which contained probiotics. The works of Metchnikoff and Tissier  were  the  first  to  make  scientific  suggestions  about  the  probiotic  use  of bacteria.  The first clinical trials were done in the 1930s on the effect of probiotics on  constipation  (Koop-Hoolihan,  2001).    Majority  of  the  probiotic  products  in current use contain bacteria from the genera Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium, although other genera, including Escherichia, Enterococcus, Bacillus and Saccharomyces have been marketed as probiotics (Oyetayo and Oyetayo, 2005).

In Nigeria, there is a very low animal protein intake as a result of poverty and overpopulation (Obi, 2004). Thus, the great need for a radical approach to livestock production. The present daily protein allowance for Nigerians according to Atsu et al., (2002) is as low as 4.5g of protein per head per day which is abyssimally low compared to the recommended animal protein intake of 14g per head per day by F.A.O.( 1997 ). Poultry production is very important in the agriculture of developing countries  (Musangi, 1992). FAO (1997) recommended  that the deficit in animal

protein supply and consumption in developing countries should be ameliorated by increased  poultry,  pork  and  rabbit  production.  Smith  (1990)  suggested  that  the supply of poultry products in poorer countries can be rapidly expanded to meet their animal protein need. This is technically possible because poultry are able to adapt to most areas of the world, have low capital requirement, have rapid generation time and a high rate of productivity.  Besides excellent nutritive value, egg possesses several  health  promoting,  immunostimulating  and  therapeutic  properties  which makes it a versatile product. At every age and stage of life, eggs have a role to play. During  pregnancy;  eggs  provide  high  quality  proteins,  vitamins  and  minerals, omega-3 fatty oils essential for both maternal and foetal health (Narahari, 2003). Narahari (2003) further stated the importance of nutrients contained in the egg as follows:  Egg  choline  is needed  for  proper  development  of a child’s  brain.  The requirement of a pregnant woman for egg choline is about 450 mg/day, while the requirement  for a nursing  mother  is 550  mg/day.  Older people need choline to activate their memory. Egg leutin and zeaxanthin are essential to prevent macular degeneration in adults. There is more to eggs than just a good nutrition. They also contain constituents that help in the treatment of a wide range of human health problems from wounds and rashes to cancer and cardiovascular diseases (Narahari,

2003). Eggs will induce and increase satiety (i.e reduce hunger). This will improve compliance with weight loss diet and enhance the benefits of a weight loss regimen. Despite being the proteinous food with the highest biological value, eggs still cost

lower than most other animal protein sources. For instance, the cost of 100 gm of eggs is N40, while 100 gm of beef costs N60 and 100 gm of chicken is N70.

Feed supply is the major limiting factor in poultry production in developing countries (Chantalakhana, 1990). The cost of feed alone accounts for 70 – 80% of the total cost of production (Yegany, 2002; Adegbola, 2004; Anyaehie and Irole,

2008). The greatest source of dilemma in the poultry industry is the unprecedented increase in the cost of poultry feedstuff especially maize and soya bean (Adene,

2004). The scarcity of cereal grains and protein concentrates for poultry feed and keen competition between man and livestock for same has been the major obstacle in  poultry  development  in  Nigeria  (PAN,  1985).  The  future  for  efficient  and profitable poultry production would therefore depend on finding cheaper and alternative energy and protein sources of conventional feed ingredients (Ojewola,1992).

Palm kernel cake (PKC) is one of the commonly recommended non- conventional feed ingredients used to partially replace maize or complement whole poultry  ration  (Onwudike,  1986;  Okeudo  et  al.,  2005).  Okeudo  et  al.,  (2005) reported that inclusion of PKC at 28% and 35% for broiler starter and finisher respectively had no deleterious effect on production. Omeke et al., (2006) recommended  that  30%  PKC  inclusion  for  broiler  diets  makes  for  optimum economic productivity.

The only problem with the use of PKC is the high crude fibre content (20.4%)

which reduces feed intake, decreases both digestibility and efficiency of utilization

of the feed (Dolberg et al, 1981, Zahari et al, 2005). Hence these researchers recommended  that  PKC  should  be  treated  to  make  it  less  fibrous  and  more digestible. Biotechnological options are available for enhancing the nutritive value of agro-industrial by products such as PKC (Kundu and Kuma, 1987). Biotechnological treatment to improve the digestibility of fibrous agricultural by- products includes either the direct use of microorganisms or microbial enzyme (Shaiful, 1982).

As  a  result  of the ban  on  antibiotic  growth  promoters  due to obvious problems of drug residues (Dipeolu et al., 2002; Dipeolu et al., 2004) microbial resistance (Chah et al., 2002) and high lipid (fat) in animal products (Lippstein et al., 1975) which are health hazards to both animals and man (Ogbe et al., 2005), there is increased  interest in probiotics.  These biotherapeutic  agents (probiotics) have been shown to significantly increase feed efficiency and improve health status of livestock without any deleterious  effects in both animals and humans (Baird, 1977;  Fuller,  1992;  Onifade  and  Babatunde,  1996;  Chang  et  al.,  2001;  Ezema,

2007). The interest in these probiotics was further enhanced by the revealation by Shaiful (1992) that these microrganisms can be used to treat fibrous agroindustry by-products to improve the efficiency of their utilization.

Probiotic research and application originated from human medicine. For these  earlier  research  workers,  their  interests  were  simply  to  use  probiotics  to promote  good  health.  Hence,  their  choice  of  probiotics  was  mainly  of  bacteria origin. Weight gain and efficiency of feed utilization are not issues in human beings. In fact, human researchers are more interested in those products that could cause weight loss. But in livestock production, weight gain and feed efficiency are the crucial issues that will determine the productivity of the livestock. This is why we considered S. cerevisiae as the probiotic of choice for animal production. Live yeast (S.  cerevisiae)  has  been  shown  to  elaborate  digestive  enzymes  which  help  to increase digestibility and efficiency of feed utilization especially in high fibre diets (Matsui et al, 1990; Numan, 2001; Ezema, 2007). On dry basis, yeast contains 54% crude protein and 3000 IU of inositol (a well known growth promoter) among other vitamins (Bery, 1982) as shown in table 1 below.

Table 1:      The essential Amino Acids and Vitamins contained in Yeast

S/N	Essential Amino Acid	(g 100g drywt–1)
1	Lysine	8.2
2	Valine	5.5
3	Leucine	7.9
4	Isoleucine	5.5
5	Threonine	4.8
6	Methionine	2.5
7	Phenylalanine	4.5
8	Tryptophan	1.2
9	Cystine	1.6
10	Histidine	4.0
11   12	Tyrosine   Arginine	5.0   5.0

S/N	Vitamins	(ug g dry wt–1)
1	Thiamine Hcl	165
2	Riboflavin	100
3	Niacin	585
4	Pyridoxine Hcl	20
5	Folic Acid	13
6	Calcium pantothenate	100
7	Biotin	0.6
8	Paraminobenzoic Acid	160
9	Choline Chloride	2,710
10	Inositol	3000

Source:       Berry, 1982

Statement of the Problem

Nutrition and diseases are the major problems of poultry production in the tropics (Adene, 2004). The cost of feeds alone accounts for about 80% of the total cost of poultry production (Adegbola, 2004). The future of efficient and profitable poultry production would therefore depend on finding cheaper and alternative energy and protein sources to conventional feed ingredients (Ojewola, 1992). Inclusion of palm kernel cake (PKC) has been known to reduce cost of feed but research workers have reported that due to its high crude fibre content, PKC should be treated for optimum efficiency of feed utilization  (Okeudo  et al.,   2005).  Kundu and Kumar  (1987) observed that supplementing animal feed with probiotic is a biotechnological option to improve the nutritive value of agro-industrial by-product such as PKC. Shaiful (1992) showed that inclusion of live micro organisms or microbial enzyme  will increase the efficiency of utilization of high fibre feed ingredient.

Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study were:

•     To determine the effect of probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on growth rate of pullets and hen-day egg performance of laying chicken.

•     To determine the appropriate level of inclusion of this probiotic for optimum pullet development and maximum egg production.

•   To assess the possible modes of action of the probiotic

•     To evaluate the cost benefit of this probiotic supplementation in table egg production

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