Probiotics could cut costs for poultry industry
Posted 1 year ago by Jacob in General Health News
Probiotic supplementation in young chickens may help reduce lameness, a leading cause of mortality in broilers (young chickens) and a significant economic concern for the poultry industry. Researchers at the University of Arkansas have discovered that the main cause of lameness in broilers; bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) a bone infection which ultimately causes disability, can be reduced through administering probiotics from the first day of rearing. This, in turn, may lessen or even eliminate the need for antibiotic treatment of BCO-related disease conditions.
Dr Wideman, lead researcher and professor in the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas, explains how the BCO spreads, "The BCO bacterium spreads by entering the bloodstream via translocation from the gastrointestinal tract." Dr. Wideman and his team of researchers speculate that by supplementing the broilers diet with probiotics can significantly reduce the bacterial translocation from the gut by, "improving gut health to reduce bacterial leakage (translocation) across the gut wall, or by priming the immune system to better eliminate translocated bacteria."
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Reference: Wideman, R. F et al (2012) A wire-flooring model for inducing lameness in broilers: Evaluation of probiotics as a prophylactic treatment. Poult. Sci. 91: 970-83
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