LAUSR

Abstract The present study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of host specific probiotic on growth performance, diarrhoea scores, intestinal microbiota and gut health of grower-finisher pigs. A feeding trial (180 days) was carried out with 36 early weaned piglets (28 days) divided into three dietary groups (4 replicates of 3 each) viz ., T0 (basal diet alone, control), T1 (basal diet + probiotic of dairy origin, Lactobacillus acidophilus NCDC-15) and T2 (basal diet + probiotic of swine origin, Pediococcus acidilactici strain FT28). The probiotics were fed as fermented feed @200 g/pig/day. At the end of the trial, six pigs from each group were sacrificed to determine the intestinal morphology. Daily feeding of probiotics from weaning to market age showed positive (P E. coli and clostridia population decreased (P P. acidilactici strain FT28 was more effective in decreasing (P L. acidophilus NCDC-15. The villi height (V) and crypt depth (C) was increased (P P. acidilactici strain FT28 was more effective in reducing diarrhoea scores and maintaining acidic environment of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) indicating a synergistic probiotic effect along with gut microbiota for promotion of gut health of the animal.