Bacillus licheniformis-fermented products improve growth performance and the fecal microbiota community in broilers

This study investigated the effects of Bacillus licheniformis-fermented products on the growth performance and fecal microbial community of broilers. A total of 144 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned into 4 dietary treatments, with 6 replicate cages per treatment and 6 birds per cage. The dietary treatments comprised a basal diet as control, control plus 1 and 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products, and control plus 10 mg/kg of enramycin. The results indicated that 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products increased (P < 0.05) the BW and ADG of broilers relative to controls. No significant difference was observed in the growth performance of broilers fed enramycin and 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products. However, principal coordinate analysis and a heatmap of species abundance indicated distinct clusters between the groups treated with enramycin and 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products. The abundance of the phylum Firmicutes in feces increased (P < 0.05) in broilers fed 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products, whereas the abundance of the phyla Verrucomicrobia and Bacteroidetes in feces decreased (P < 0.05) in response to treatment with 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products. The abundance of the genera Enterococcus, Akkermansia, Ruminococcus torques group, Faecalibacterium, and Parabacteroides in feces decreased (P < 0.05) in broilers fed 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products, whereas the abundance of the genus Lactobacillus in feces increased (P < 0.05) in response to treatment with 3 g/kg of B. licheniformis-fermented products. The average abundance of the genus Lactobacillus in feces was positively correlated with the growth performance of broilers. These results demonstrate that B. licheniformis-fermented products can improve the growth performance and fecal microflora composition of broilers.