Effects of Clostridium butyricum or in combination with Bacillus licheniformis on the growth performance, blood indexes, and intestinal barrier function of weanling piglets

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Clostridium butyricum or in combination with Bacillus licheniformis on the growth performance, blood characteristics, and intestinal barrier function of weanling piglets. A total of 150 piglets weaned at 23 ± 2 d were assigned to 5 treatments with 3 pens per treatment and 10 pigs per pen. Dietary treatments were as follow: basal diet + antibiotics (100 mg olaquindox/kg, 20 mg colistin sulfate/kg, and 50 mg kitasamycin/kg) + 2250 mg Zn from ZnO/kg (Control A); basal diet + antibiotics + 1125 mg Zn from ZnO/kg (Control B); basal diet + 1125 mg Zn from ZnO/kg + 109 cfu/kg of Bacillus licheniformis (BL); basal diet + 1125 mg Zn from ZnO/kg + 108 cfu/kg of Clostridium butyricum (CB); and basal diet + 1125 mg Zn from ZnO/kg + 108 cfu/kg of Clostridium butyricum + 109 cfu/kg of Bacillus licheniformis (CB-BL). The results indicated that the piglets fed the control B diet exhibited a decrease in growth performance, and an elevated incidence of diarrhea compared with the piglets fed the control A diet (P