Managing immunity - a synergistic approach

摘要

Maintaining optimal immune response in birds has become a major challenge in modern poultry production. As nutrition is a major cost in animal and poultry nutrition, maintaining optimal health via this route is desirable. It is well known that antioxidants can enhance the immune system. Combining this with the antioxidant and immunostimulant potential of some plant extracts may increase the benefits. Health management and biosecurity are perhaps the most critical aspects of poultry production today. With an intensified approach towards poultry farming, it is becoming difficult to achieve adequate isolation from and a comfortable degree of protection against invading infection. Maintaining optimum immune response in the bird has become a major challenge throughout its life cycle. Prevailing problems such as complicated CRD's, an increase in E. coli and Salmonella infections and the difficulty of treating these with ever increasing antibiotic resistance, it is a challenge and creates an urgent needto enhance the immune status of the bird. In addition, the exploitation of genetic potential for higher productivity has also compromised the immunity of the modern bird.