Abstract

With the concept that measuring behavior is often the first step to take when studying how the brain operates, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of probiotic on turkey poult's behavior which will confirm the new concept that gut microbes can influence the brain. Ecobiol® probiotic, spores of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and a carrier as serum of milk with a minimum guaranteed 1×10¹⁰ CFU/g was given with a dose of 0.01 g/day for each bird in the drinking water to group (P; n=350) and the other group (C; n=350) were kept as controls. Behavioral observations were carried out by direct personal observation without bird disturbance from outside the pen with a good view over the whole pen. Maintenance, comfort behavior, kinesis and agonestic behaviors were recorded. The obtained results indicated that probiotics increased the feeding frequency and duration and decreased distress call and aggressive behaviors in turkey poults.

Key words:  Ecobiol®, turkey, probiotics, behavior, observation.