Exclusion of Intestinal Pathogens by Continuous Feeding with Bacillus subtilis C-3102 and its Influence on the Intestinal Microflora in Broilers

Bacillus subtilis C-3102 was administered to chickens to exclude or decrease the presence of intestinal pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter. In a laboratory experiment with infected chickens, results showed a decrease in the number and detection rate of Campylobacter in both the control and the experimental group. However, after day 49 only one of 10 chickens was Campylobacter-positive in the experimental group. This detection rate was significantly lower than the control (6/10). A similar effect was also noticed in the experiment with Salmonella infected chickens. In spite of a significantly high number of bacteria at day 3, the experimental group was colonized by significantly lower number of Salmonella at day 10. Thereafter, the average number of Salmonella in the experimental group was lower than that of the control. In a field trial, there were significant decreases in the number (P