ABSTRACT
 
This study investigated the impact of using probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici (PRO), phytase (PHY) and xylanase (XYL) on growth performance, including carcass characteristics and intestinal morphology of 210-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks. The chicks were divided into seven dietary treatments of 3 replicates with 10 birds each for 35 days. Experimental groups were T1 which was fed a basal diet; T2 fed a control diet with 100 g of probiotic /ton feed; T3 fed a control diet with 100 g of phytase /ton feed; T4 fed a control diet with 100 g of xylanase /ton feed; T5 fed control diet with 100 g of phytase + 100 g xylanase /ton feed; T6 fed control diet with 100 g xylanase + 100 g Probiotic/ton feed and T7 fed control diet with 100 g phytase + 100 g of probiotic /ton feed, respectively. Results showed no significant differences between treatments in total growth performance except for giblets; however, the treatment with supplemental PHY+XYL (T5) had a 5.15% increase in BWG compared with the control group. Spleen and bursa weight were significantly affected by dietary treatments,  where chicks fed either PRO+XYL or PRO were recorded as having the highest intestinal villi height and villi/ crypt ratio compared to the control. It could be concluded that the dietary supplementation of 100 g xylanase + 100 g probiotic/ ton feed or phytase at 500 FTU/kg diet + β-xylanase at 1600 BXU/kg resulted in enhanced growth performance, gut morphology and carcass characteristics in broiler chickens.
Keywords: Xylanase, phytase, probiotic, broiler performance