Abstract

This study investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of postbiotics derived from Lactiplantibacillus plantarum on carcass characteristics of broiler chicken challenged with Escherichia coli. A total of 240, day-old male Cobb 430Y chicks were assigned to six treatment groups in a 2×3 factorial design (infection status: challenged vs. non-challenged; postbiotic supplementation: 0 %, 0.5 %, 0.8 %). Birds were orally challenged with E. coli (3×10⁸ CFU/mL) at 10-12 days of age. Carcass traits were evaluated at 14 days post-challenge (26 days of age). Results indicated that dietary supplementation of postbiotics from L. plantarum did not significantly (p < 0.05) alter carcass traits under non-challenged conditions but provided partial benefits under pathogenic stress. Supplementation at 0.5 % improved drumstick yield and neck/back yield, while E. coli challenge significantly reduced dressing percentage and ready-to-cook yield. These findings suggest that dietary postbiotics may partially mitigate the negative impact of pathogenic stress on carcass quality.

Keywords : Postbiotics, carcass traits, challenge, colibacillosis, interaction effects