The ileal contents (10 cm anterior to the junction with caecum and rectum) of two birds in each replicate were separatelycollected into the sterile tubes for serial dilution as described by Ghazaghi et al. (2014). In brief, 1 g of ileal digesta was addedinto the test tube containing 9 mL of sterilized phosphate buffered saline and buffered solutions were transferred to themicrobial laboratory of our institute. Bacterial populations were determined by serial dilution (10−4–10−6) of ileal samplesbefore inoculation onto Petri dishes. Plates for lactic acid bacteria (LAB; grown in deMan, Rogosa and Sharpe, MRS agar) andcoliform bacteria (grown in Mac Conkey agar) were incubated at 37◦C in anaerobic and aerobic media, respectively. Plate