2. Materials and methods
The experimental protocols were approved by the Animal
Care and Use Committee of Dankook University.
2.1. Source of probiotic
The probiotic preparation used in the current experiment is
manufactured by Chr. Hansen A/S (Horsholm, Denmark)
under the name of BioPlus 2B®. This product is comprised of a
mixture of spray-dried spore-forming B. subtilis CH201/
DSM5749 and B. licheniformis CH200/DSM5749 (1%),
synthetic aluminum silicate (1%), and spray-dried whey
permeate powder (98%), and is guaranteed to contain at least
3.2 × 109 viable spores/g of B. subtilis CH201/DSM5750 and
B. licheniformis CH200/DSM5749.
2.2. Experiment 1: growth performance experiment
2.2.1. Experimental design, animals, housing and diets
A total of 64 [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] pigs with an
initial body weight (BW) of 26.70 ± 0.50 kg were utilized in a
5-week experiment designed to evaluate the effects of dietary
supplementation with BioPlus 2B® on growing pig growth