Productive behavior of growing guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus L.) supplemented with natural prebiotics and probiotics

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of natural prebiotics and probiotics supplemented in feed on the productive behavior of growing guinea pigs. Fifty 14-day-old male guinea pigs from Peru were used, with an average weight of 380 g, distributed using a completely randomized design with five treatments and five repetitions, considering two animals per repetition. The experimental phase lasted 35 days. Feed intake (g), final weight (g), weight gain (g), feed conversion, and carcass yield (%) were evaluated. The treatments were: T1: Control diet (CD) + Growth Promoter Antibiotic (GPA), T2: CD without a GPA and synbiotics (Probiotic + Prebiotic), T3: CD + Natural probiotic, T4: CD + Natural prebiotic, and T5: CD + synbiotics. In the evaluated parameters, no significant differences were found (p > 0.05); however, trends were found for higher intake in guinea pigs of T3 (809.37 g), higher final weight in guinea pigs of T1 (851.6 g), higher weight gain in guinea pig of T2 (472.3 g), better feed conversion in guinea pigs of T5 (3.4), and higher carcass performance in guinea pigs of T3 (73.6 %). It is concluded that the productive parameters were not affected by the supplemented additives.