Effect of probiotic with ascorbic acid on the growth performance of broilers in summer season*

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of probiotic and ascorbic acid supplementation independently and simultaneously either in feed or in drinking water on production performance of broilers in summer season. Four hundred and twenty day-old commercial broiler chicks were procured and distributed to seven treatment groups with two replicates of thirty chicks each. In the control group (T₁) basal diet without any feed supplement was used. In the other treatment groups, basal diet with (T₂) probiotic in feed, (T₃) ascorbic acid in feed, (T₄) combination of probiotic with ascorbic acid in feed, (T₅) probiotic in drinking water, (T₆) ascorbic acid in drinking water, (T₇) combination of probiotic and ascorbic acid in drinking water were used. The inclusion of probiotic and ascorbic acid both independently and simultaneously either in feed or in drinking water to broilers had made significant (P<0.01) improvement in body weight, total feed consumption and feed efficiency.