Performance Enhancement in Male Bayang Ducks after Oral Administration of the Probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059

Ducks have a strategic position in Indonesian society, they not only provide quality food but also a great opportunity for villagers to earn income. The duck population in Indonesia has increased, from 56,570 in 2021 to 58,651 in 2022 (BPS, 2022). The Bayang duck is a local duck species which is the germplasm of West Sumatra, first found in South Pesisir Regency, Indonesia, and is potentially a meat- and egg-purpose breed (Kusnadi and Rahim, 2009; Rusfidra et al., 2013). However, from economic point, the productivity of ducks is lower as compared to chickens for meat or eggs, which is shown by the high ration conversion rate. The high diet conversion of ducks elevates production costs, so farmers are constrained in maintaining intensively. In this regard, breakthroughs need to be made in the field of animal husbandry technology, especially technology related to ration issues so that the rations given to livestock are more efficient. Efforts to improve ration efficiency include adding various feed additives such as enzymes and antibiotics. However, many governments, have restricted the use of antibiotics (Mehdi et al., 2018; Roth et al., 2019). To overcome these issues, livestock-safe feed additives such as probiotics are required.

Probiotics are live, non-pathogenic microorganisms that assist the host by balancing the intestinal microflora. Several researchers have previously reported that probiotics in ducks can improve performance, ration efficiency, gut health, and even reduce the use of crude protein in the ration from 18% to 14% without disturbing duck performance (Zurmiati et al., 2017a;Yang et al., 2020; Naumova et al., 2021; Khattab et al., 2021; Khabirov et al., 2022; Lokapirnasari et al., 2022). Bacillus subtilis is a gram-positive bacterium with probiotic characteristics (Duanis-Assaf et al., 2020). It secretes exogenous digestive enzymes (Abd El-Moneim and Sabic, 2019), which can improve nutrient digestion. Also, it can improve health, performance, ration efficiency, and it can ameliorate the intestinal morphology of ducks (Guo et al., 2016; Zurmiati et al., 2017b; Li et al., 2022; Sun et al., 2022). However, to date there have been no reports concerning the response of male Bayang duck supplemented with a probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059. Currently, there are no guidelines regarding the appropriate dose of probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 for male Bayang duck. This article aims to answer the question of what is the impact of probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 on the performance of male Bayang duck. To do this, we measured the male Bayang duck’s feed intake, body weight increase, feed conversion, and final body weight while supplementing Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 in drinking water.

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia, in accordance with ethical animal research standards, registration no. 520/UN.16.2/KEP-FK/2023.

A total of 100 day-old male Bayang ducks were purchased from a duck farm and were equally divided into five treatment groups and supplemented with Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 at a dose rate of 0, 76x106, 69x108, 65x1010, and 53x1012 CFU/ml. Each group has four replicates and each replicate was consisted of 5 male Bayang ducks. Ducks were placed in box cages of 80x60x60 cm, with 5 ducks per box. The average body weight of each group was noted before the start of treatment.

Diets were prepared separately using the diet ingredients listed below: Soybean meal, rice bran, fish meal, corn, mineral feed supplement, and coconut oil. Nutrients (%) and metabolic energy (kcal / kg) profile of diet can be found in Table 1. During the research, diet and water were always provided freely.

Table 1: Feed ingredients, nutritional value, and metabolic energy of male Bayang duck feed.

Note: The diet used in each treatment was the same. The difference was the dose of probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059, which was administered through drinking water.

Ducks were given an adaptation period of one week by providing drinking water without adding probiotics. Then, probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 was administered through drinking water according to the treatment. The inclusion of probiotics was done once a week, starting at week 2 until week 5, while performance data was collected until the ducklings were 6 weeks old.

Feed conversion, total feed intake, daily feed intake, total body weight gain, and daily body weight gain were recorded (Ojediran et al., 2017). In addition, the final body weight was obtained by weighing the ducks at the end of the study without subtracting the initial weight (before treatment).

The data was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Following that, the treatment differences were analyzed using Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) with a significance threshold of p<0.05 (Steel and Torrie, 1991).

A statistically significant (p<0.05) effect was seen on the average feed intake when Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 was supplemented to ducks (Table 2). During the initial 5 week phase, an increase in the dosage of probiotics resulted in a notable decrease in the total feed intake and daily feed intake of male Bayang ducks. Data indicated significant decrease in feed intake for ducks fed Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 at the dose of 65x1010 and 53x1012. These results indicate that the addition of probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 produces more efficient feed. The utilization of probiotics has been shown to enhance the health of ducks by the augmentation of non-pathogenic bacterial populations, including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, while concurrently reducing the number of pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli (Li et al., 2011; Plaza-Diaz et al., 2019; Khabirov et al., 2022). The augmentation of enzyme activity in the small intestine of ducks can be attributed to the existence of non-pathogenic bacterial colonies, which is altered by probiotic supplementation. Reducing feed intake is most likely due to the help of enzymes produced by Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 as probiotics in the digestive tract. Bacillus subtilis produces extracellular digestive enzymes (Li et al., 2014; Abd El-Moneim and Sabic, 2019), which can improve nutrient digestion. Previous studies have demonstrated that the administration of probiotics to ducks can lead to an augmentation in the activity of digestive enzymes inside the small intestine (Khattab et al., 2021). This, in turn, contributes to the enhancement of digestive system functionality and an increase in the digestibility of feed (Sun et al., 2022; Siti et al., 2023). According to Khattab et al. (2021), the inclusion of probiotics in the diet of ducks resulted in the increased activity of digestive enzymes, including amylase, lipase, and protease, within their small intestines, as compared to those not administered with probiotics. Enzymes play a vital role in the process of hydrolyzing complicated nutrients into more readily assimilable forms, hence facilitating efficient absorption within the duck’s digestive system.

The inclusion of probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 had a statistically significant effect (p<0.05) on daily body weight gain (g/bird/d) and total body weight gain (g) (Table 3). This indicates that the male Bayang ducks obtained the available and necessary nutrients from the feed administrated with probiotic for growth. Body weight gain is an indicator for the efficiency of poultry in changing their feed. If the feed intake is high but needs to be followed by an appropriate weight gain, it indicates inefficiency in the ration (Skinner-Noble and Teeter, 2004). The occurrence of weight gain was closely correlated with diet consumption. The findings of this study show that the administration of probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 has the potential to decrease feed consumption while maintaining body weight gain. The increased in feed absorption can be attributed to the biological capacity of probiotics to generate digestive enzymes, including protease, cellulase, and lipase (Khattab et al., 2021). Thus, the body’s nutrients for tissue growth and energy are more than those come out through faces. Lokapirnasari et al. (2022), reported that giving probiotics to Peking ducks increased body weight gain.

Table 2: The average total feed intake and daily feed intake of male Bayang ducks administered probiotic Bacillus subtillus FNCC 0059.

Note: Significant effect (P<0.05) among treatments are indicated by different superscripts in the same column. SE stands for Standard Error.

Table 3: The average total body weight gain, daily body weight gain, and feed conversion of male Bayang ducks administered probiotic Bacillus subtillus FNCC 0059.

Note: Significant effect (P<0.05) among treatments are indicated by different superscripts in the same column. SE stands for Standard Error.

Feed conversion was significantly (p<0.05) affected by the probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 treatment (Table 3). Feed conversion decreases with the inclusion of probiotics, probably due to the role of probiotics in digestion improvement, which in turn can increase the absorption of food nutrients. Increased absorption of the consumed diet will have a positive effect on body weight gain and feed intake, both of which are closely related to feed conversion. The efficiency of feed utilization is closely linked to both feed intake and body weight increase (Patience et al., 2015, Wen et al., 2018). The concept of feed efficiency refers to the capacity of diets ingested at a given timeframe to generate the body weight of an animal concurrently (Yamin, 2008). A lower feed conversion value corresponds to improved feed efficiency, whereas a higher feed conversion value is associated with reduced feed efficiency (Wen et al., 2018). Feed conversion can serve as a means to exemplify the level of efficiency in production. According to Khattab et al. (2021) and Zhang et al. (2022) the administration of probiotics has been associated with improved feed efficiency and a reduction in dietary protein content.

The administration of probiotics had a significant impact (p<0.05) on the final body weight of male Bayang duck (Table 4). The observed increase in the final body weight of male Bayang ducks due to probiotic administration can be attributable to the enzymatic help of Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059. It helps the digestive process and increases the absorption of food ingredients. This can be seen from the decrease in feed intake with still have increased body weight gain. Previous researchers reported that giving probiotics can increase the body weight of ducklings (Bidura et al., 2019;Daud et al., 2019).

Table 4: The average initial body weight and final body weight of male Bayang ducks administered probiotic Bacillus subtillus FNCC 0059.

Note: Significant effect (P<0.05) among treatments are indicated by different superscripts in the same column. SE stands for Standard Error.

The administration of probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 at a dose of 65x1010 CFU/ml can improve the performance and feed efficiency of male Bayang ducks, so it can used in the intensive development of duck farming. This dose was found equally effective as that of higher dose (53x1012) to enhance performance of growing ducks. These findings provide insight and further validate that probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059 supplementation can improve the performance and feed efficiency of ducks.

The author wishes to thank Andalas University’s Research Centre and Community Engagement Service (LPPM). This research was supported by the Beginner Lecturer Research Scheme, contract number T/51/UN16.19/PT.01.03/Pangan-RDP/2023.

To date, there have been no reports concerning the response of male Bayang duck supplemented with a probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059. The purpose of this study is to address the subject of how male Bayang duck performance is affected by the probiotic Bacillus subtilis FNCC 0059.

Zurmiati was involved in all phases of the investigation, including research design, experiment implementation, sample examination, data analysis, paper drafting, and revision. Wizna took part in the research and helped with manuscript review and editing. Ade Trisna and Ridho Kurniawan Rusli handled the investigation, data analysis, and review. Yelsi Listiana Dewi and Ulvi Fitri Handayani contributed to the writing of the original draft, and methodology. The text was coauthored by all authors, who also reviewed the statistical analysis and gave their approval for the publishing of the edited version.