| Summary: | A total of 900 one-d-old Chinese Huainan Partridge Shank chickens were randomly allocated into nine groups with five replicates of 20 each. Birds were fed with basal diet, basal diet supplemented with 150 mg kg−1 aureomycin, basal diet supplemented with different proportions of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis, which was 0:1.0×106, 2.5×105:7.5×105, 3.3×105:6.6×105, 5.0×105:5.0×105, 6.6×105:3.3×105, 7.5×105:2.5×105 and 1.0×106:0, respectively. The duration of the experiment was 56 d. The results indicated that dietary supplementation of 6.6×105:3.3×105 of B. lichenifornis:B. subtilis improved final body weight, increased the average daily gain, and reduced feed/gain ratio (P<0.05). The numbers of total Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium sp. in the caecum significantly increased, and the numbers of Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp. significantly declined compared to that of the control (P<0.05). Intestinal villous height and villous height to crypt depth ratio of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were significantly higher than that of the control, and intestinal crypt depth of the duodenum and ileum was significantly lower (P<0.05). The total antioxidant capacity, total superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase ability in plasma significantly improved, while the malondialdehyde concentration in plasma decreased (P<0.05). Compared to the control, plasma concentrations of ammonia, uric acid and urea nitrogen and the activity of xanthine oxidase were reduced (P<0.05). In conclusion, an inclusion of 6.6×105:3.3×105 of B. licheniformis: B. subtilis to the diet improved the growth performance, caecal microbiota, plasma biochemical profile, and significantly improved the small intestine morphology, while reducing the mortality rate.
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