Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to public health, and research has shown that the use of antimicrobials in livestock feed has contributed to the spread of resistance. In response to market demands and concerns about antimicrobial resistance, the poultry industry is moving towards antibiotic-free production. Researchers at Penn State are studying alternative approaches to antimicrobial growth promoters in broiler chicken diets to improve feed efficiency, growth rate, and gut health. Led by Erika Ganda, a research team conducted a study on natural feed additives that could potentially replace antimicrobials.
The researchers found that supplementing broiler chicks’ diet with a probiotic over 21 days significantly increased the abundance of beneficial intestinal microorganisms. This research will be published in Poultry Science and highlights the potential of natural feed additives in enhancing intestinal health and growth performance in broilers. Ganda emphasized the importance of further studies to evaluate the health outcomes, mechanisms, and consequences of using alternative growth promoters in broiler production. More research is needed to fully understand the impact of these additives on the gastrointestinal tract of broilers.
Ana Fonseca, a graduate assistant in Ganda’s research group, spearheaded a study that included 320 one-day-old chicks raised for 21 days in randomly allocated cages. The chicks were fed four different diets, including a standard diet, a diet with an antibiotic, a diet with essential oils, and a diet with a probiotic. Probiotics are live microorganisms that support beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract, while essential oils have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that can influence the microbiome of the chickens’ intestines.
The researchers monitored the growth performance of the broilers by weighing them at the beginning and end of each dietary phase and calculating feed intake and conversion ratios. They also analyzed excreta samples to identify changes in bacterial strains present in the intestines of the chickens. The results showed that supplementing the diet with probiotics or antibiotics significantly altered the relative abundance of bacterial strains compared to the standard diet. However, essential oils did not have a significant impact on the microbiome or performance of the broilers.
While the results of the study were somewhat surprising, the researchers believe that essential oils could still be a promising alternative to antimicrobial growth promoters. Further research is needed to explore the potential benefits of essential oils and how they may influence the microbiome of broilers as they age. The study involved a multidisciplinary team of researchers from different departments at Penn State, and it was supported by funding from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the College of Agricultural Sciences Strategic Networks and Initiatives Program.
