Effect of commercial and experimental probiotics on immune response to Infectious Bursal Disease vaccination in broiler chickens

Sa？etak The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of probiotics in drinking water on the immune response against Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) in broiler chickens. A total of 240 one day old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were randomly divided into three groups. Two groups (P1 and P2) were experimental and one was control (K), each with eight replicate pens of ten chicks. Chicks of the P1 group were given the commercial probiotic Probios？, soluble poultry powder (Chr. HANSEN A/S, Denmark) and chicks of the P2 group were given an experimental probiotic prepared according to an original recipe. Chicks of the control group received no treatment. Probiotic treatment was given to the experimental groups during the first three days of life and for three days during the vaccination of chicks. During the experiment, chicks were vaccinated at 14 days of age against IBDV with the TAD GUMBORO？ vaccine in accordance with congenital antibody titers. Controlling the immune response against IBDV at 21 days of age, the mean value of the antibody titer was uniform in all three groups of chicks. However, at 33 days of age, a significantly (P<0.05) higher mean antibody titre was found in chicks of the experimental groups compared to the control. Statistically significant differences in mean values of the antibody titers were also confirmed among the experimental groups in favour of the P1 group. At 42 days of age, at the end of the fattening period, chicks treated with the commercial probiotic Probios？ (P1) showed significantly (P<0.05) higher antibody titres than the control. A higher antibody value was determined in chicks from the group treated with experimental probiotics, but without statistical significance compared to the control group