EFFECTS OF A MULTISPECIES PROBIOTIC ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, IMMUNE RESPONSE AND INTESTINAL MICROFLORA IN HAND-REARED PARROTS

Hand-rearing of parrots can have negative consequences, as aspiration pneumonia, crop burn, puncture of esophagus or crop, malnutrition and starvation. The end weight of the babies can be 10-15 % lower than the weight of the parents, with hand reared chicks that develop more skeletal deformities compared with parent reared birds. Handreared parrots are more vulnerable to infectious diseases, because their immune system is less well developed, for stress of neonatal handling. We tested a multispecies probiotic (containing 5 strains of lactobacilli, 2 of bifi dobacteria, and 1 of Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus), adding in the rehydrated hand-feeding formula, 7.5 billion of bacteria for 50 grams of weight of each bird, SID, for 8 wks, in hand reared Amazona and Psittacula species, divided in two groups, treated and control, each consisting of 19 birds. During the hand raising, weight gain and antibodies production were evaluated. Birds fed with probiotic had greater (P< 0.05) BW on Wk 8 and greater (P < 0.05) concentration of IgA in their crop and intestinal swabs, and IgG in serum, than control birds. At the end of the trial, birds fed with probiotic showed differences in intestinal microbiota compared to control birds. These results suggest that multispecies probiotic integration can promote growth performance, beneficially manipulate the intestinal microfl ora and the IgA/IgG mucosal/serological levels in challenged parrots.