Table 3 Effect of probiotics dietary supplementation on microbial counts of small intestine and caecum contents of NZW rabbits

Microbial count in small intestine contents

 Escherichia coli (cfu/g)

19.10 × 10^{5 a}

3.98 × 10^{4 b}

4.45 × 10^{4 b}

1.16 × 10^{4 c}

 Clostridium perfringens (cfu/g)

8.71 × 10^{5 a}

1.12 × 10^{5 b}

1.41 × 10^{5 b}

2.14 × 10^{4 c}

 Lactobacillus spp. (cfu/g)

2.92 × 10^{7 c}

5.58 × 10^{7 a}

6.25 × 10^{7 a}

4.57 × 10^{7 b}

Microbial count in caecum contents

 Escherichia coli (cfu/g)

21.30 × 10^{6 a}

4.17 × 10^{5 b}

6.61 × 10^{5 b}

2.57 × 10^{5 c}

 Clostridium perfringens (cfu/g)

24.50 × 10^{5 a}

5.25 × 10^{5 c}

8.91 × 10^{5 b}

3.18 × 10^{5 c}

 Lactobacillus spp. (cfu/g)

2.14 × 10^{8 c}

9.55 × 10^{8 a}

6.61 × 10^{8 b}

15.10 × 10^{8 a}