Effect of BioPlus YC Probiotic Supplementation on Gut Microbiota, Production Performance, Carcass and Meat Quality of Pigs

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of probiotic bacteria <i>Bacillus licheniformis</i> and <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> on microbiological properties of feed mixtures and on the digestive tract content as applicable to production traits and carcass characteristics of fatteners. The experiment was performed on 83,838 fatteners from four successive (insertions) productions in two groups. From the seventy eighth day of age till marketing to the slaughter plant, the pigs were supplied with BioPlus YC probiotic (Chr. Hansen) in the amount of 400 g/t. The preparation contained a complex of probiotic bacteria <i>Bacillus licheniformis</i> DSM 5749, and <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> DSM 5750 spores in a 1:1 ratio. From the fourth insertion, after reaching a body weight of approximately 112 kg, 60 fatteners were selected from each group to measure carcass quality and half of them for meat quality evaluation. Moreover, microbiological analyses in feed and colon were performed. The study showed that BioPlus YC probiotics supplementation resulted in a significantly higher count of <i>B. subtilis</i> and <i>B. licheniformis</i> in the feed, a higher count of <i>B. subtilis, B. licheniformis</i> and LAB, as well as a lower count of <i>Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus, Clostridium and Bacillus</i> sp. in the mucosa and in the colorectal content of the test pigs. Our work has shown that supplementation with the BioPlus YC probiotic had a positive effect on the production traits of pigs mainly by reducing mortality (2.83%, <i>p</i> = 0.010), lowering feed conversion ratio—FCR (2.59 kg/kg, <i>p</i> = 0.013), better average daily gain—ADG (0.95 kg/day, <i>p</i> = 0.002) and shorter fattening period (77.25 days, <i>p</i> = 0.019) when compared to the control group (4.19%; 2.79 kg/kg; 0.89 kg/day; 92.8 days, respectively). The addition of the specific <i>Bacillus</i> bacteria did not influence carcass and meat characteristics of the test fatteners.