The impact of probiotic live yeast in a barley grain-based diet on feed efficiency, carcass traits, and immune-oxidative status of artificially reared lambs

This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with a probiotic live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on growth performance, carcass traits, and immune-oxidative status in artificially reared lambs. After colostrum administration, pure Chios lambs (n = 42) were divided into two homogenous groups (n = 21); the Control (CON) and Probiotic supplemented group (PROB), were artificially reared until the 45th day of lambs’ age. From the 30th until the 106th day of lambs age, both groups were fed alfalfa hay and a barley grain-based concentrate mix ad libitum. Moreover, 100 g of concentrate including 0.1 g of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 live yeast (1010 CFU/g) was offered to PROB lambs to ensure a constant intake of the yeast. The yeast supplementation did not affect animal growth performance. The weight (g/100 g of BW) of the liver was higher in the CON lambs compared to the PROB-fed (P