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.