Abstract

Probiotics, live cells with different beneficial characteristics have been extensively studied and explored commercially in many different products in the world. Their benefits to young ruminants have been supported in hundreds of scientific papers. Enhance the development of the adult rumen microflora, improve digestion and nitrogen flow towards lower digestive tract, and improve meat and milk production. Because of higher profit margin in intensive small ruminant production, farmers are shifting from tradition to high input feeding systems. In order to harvest, real benefits from small ruminants which are raised on nutrient rich diet, feed additives like probiotics are used to enhance the efficiency of nutrient utilization in growing ruminants. The more feed an animal consumes each day, the greater will be the opportunity for increasing its daily production. Probiotic supplementation has been found to increase feed intake and is known to influence the performance of ruminants. Probiotics in a healthy animal stimulate non-specific immune response and enhance the system of immune protection. The probiotics that enhance immunoglobulin levels have more positive effect on growth performance, production and ability to resist disease. Therefore, this review briefly elaborates the effects of probiotics feeding on health and growth performance of young ruminants.

Keywords: Probiotics; Growth performance; Rumen development; Ruminant