Ndegwa Eunice, Elhadedy Doaa E, Richey Caitlyn, Kim Chyer, Yousuf Adnan B
Agricultural Research Station, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA.
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2024 Aug 5. doi: 10.1007/s12602-024-10337-w.
The potential benefit of probiotics in small ruminant production systems has largely been unexplored. We evaluated the effect of a goat commercial probiotic on health and performance indicators in pastured goats from birth until 10 months. We randomly allocated 26 newborn nursing goat kids to two groups: a control group that received saline and a treatment group that received a commercial probiotic paste orally. We evaluated select observable health indicators (inappetence, diarrhea, coughing), weight, immunity (IgA, IgG, and innate immune response), total protein, hematocrit (HCT), total lactic acid bacteria (LAB), total coliforms, and prevalence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) primary virulence genes (stx1, stx2, and eae) during the experimental period. The results revealed no significant differences in the health indicators, LAB count, and total E. coli count. Prevalence of stx1 at 1 week of age and both stx1 and stx2 genes 4 months post-weaning was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in probiotic-supplemented goats. Probiotic supplementation significantly (P < 0.05) increased the total protein and IgA 1 month post-supplementation during the pre-weaning period and innate immune markers 2 days post-weaning. The HCT in probiotic-supplemented goats was significantly (P < 0.05) higher at 1 and 2 months post-weaning. The growth rate was not affected by probiotic supplementation in pre- and peri-weaned goats but was significantly (P < 0.05) lowered in goats older than 4 months in the supplemented group. In this pastured goat production study, there were mixed responses to a commercial probiotic in healthy goats based on age. The study suggests that early daily probiotic supplementation in pre-weaned pastured goats may have immune stimulation benefits, but in older healthy animals, post-weaning net benefits are unclear and further research is recommended.
益生菌在小型反刍动物生产系统中的潜在益处很大程度上尚未得到探索。我们评估了一种山羊商业益生菌对放牧山羊从出生到10个月大时的健康和生产性能指标的影响。我们将26只新生哺乳山羊随机分为两组：一组为接受生理盐水的对照组，另一组为口服商业益生菌糊剂的处理组。我们在实验期间评估了选定的可观察健康指标（食欲不振、腹泻、咳嗽）、体重、免疫力（IgA、IgG和先天免疫反应）、总蛋白、血细胞比容（HCT）、总乳酸菌（LAB）、总大肠菌群以及大肠杆菌（E. coli）主要毒力基因（stx1、stx2和eae）的流行情况。结果显示，健康指标、LAB计数和总大肠杆菌计数没有显著差异。在补充益生菌的山羊中，1周龄时stx1的流行率以及断奶后4个月时stx1和stx2基因的流行率均显著（P < 0.05）更高。补充益生菌在断奶前期补充后1个月显著（P < 0.05）增加了总蛋白和IgA，在断奶后2天增加了先天免疫标志物。补充益生菌的山羊在断奶后1个月和2个月时的HCT显著（P < 0.05）更高。断奶前和断奶期补充益生菌对山羊的生长速度没有影响，但在补充组中，4个月以上的山羊生长速度显著（P < 0.05）降低。在这项放牧山羊生产研究中，基于年龄的健康山羊对商业益生菌有不同的反应。该研究表明，在断奶前的放牧山羊中早期每日补充益生菌可能具有免疫刺激益处，但在年龄较大的健康动物中，断奶后的净益处尚不清楚，建议进一步研究。
