The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different ways of administering probiotic on performance, carcass yield and small intestine microbial population of meat quail. One thousand and fifty quails, one-day old males and females were used, distributed in a randomized completedesign with three treatments (control, probiotic in drinking water and probiotic in feed) and five replications of seventy quail each. Every seven days, the quails were weighed to evaluate weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion (FC) and growth viability. At 7 and 14 days, fifteen quails were slaughtered to perform the count of Lactobacillus sp., enterobacteria and Escherichia coli of the small intestine at 35 days, 30 quails were slaughtered to evaluate the carcass and cut yields. From 7 to 14 days of age, the quails fed probiotic in the ration, compared to those fed probiotic in the drinking water, showed lower feed intake, which did not affect weight gain and improved feed conversion. Carcass yield, count of Lactobacillus sp., enterobacteria and Escherichia coli were not influenced by probiotic addition.The probiotic do not improve performance, carcass yield and also do not alter small intestine microbiota of meat quail.
Escherichia coli; feed conversion; lactobacillus
