Dietary yeast culture improves growth performance and nutrient utilization while reducing odor-causing compounds and modulating cecal microbiota in broilers.

Dietary yeast culture supplementation has been proposed as an effective strategy to enhance production efficiency and intestinal health in poultry. This study evaluated the effects of yeast culture (YC) on growth performance, nutrient utilization, odor-related metabolites, and cecal microbiota in broilers. A total of 960 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments with 16 replicates per treatment and 20 birds per replicate. Compared with the control group, YC supplementation increased average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI), and improved the feed conversion ratio (F/G) during the early and overall growth periods (p < 0.05). Nutrient utilization was significantly enhanced, as reflected by increased crude fat (CF), crude ash (Ash), and crude protein (CP) digestibility across different growth phases (p < 0.05). In addition, YC supplementation reduced the concentrations of indole and skatole (p < 0.05), two major odor-causing metabolites, and decreased muscle triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels (p < 0.05). Microbiota analysis showed that YC supplementation significantly increased the relative abundance of beneficial genera, including Lactobacillus and Barnesiella. In conclusion, dietary YC improved growth performance and nutrient utilization, reduced odor-related metabolites, and selectively altered specific bacterial genera, particularly Lactobacillus and Barnesiella. This study provides evidence for the use of YC as a beneficial feed additive for improving production performance and reducing odor-related compounds in broilers.