Influence of peas (Pisum sativum) as a dietary ingredient and flavomycin supplementation on the performance and intestinal microflora of broiler chicks

Two experiments were carried out to study the effects of diets containing various concentrations of pea meal (Pisum sativum L.), with or without flavomycin supplementation, on the performance and intestinal microflora of broiler chicks. 2. During the 7 to 28-d period, chicks fed on diets containing 300, 600 and 800 g pea meal/kg consumed more food and gained more weight than chicks receiving a maize-isolated soyabean protein control diet. The addition of flavomycin to the diets had similar effects on the performance of both the control and the pea groups. 3. Pea diets, with and without supplemental flavomycin, had little influence on the composition of intestinal microflora. The counts of enterococci in the small intestine and Clostridium perfringens and coliforms in the caeca of pea-fed chicks exceeded those of control chicks.