A new, exclusive feed additive supporting broiler performance: Better FCR and better welfare of animals

摘要

The gastrointestinal tract with its complex microflora plays a key role in growth performance and health in modern broiler production. A variety of factors such as diet, stress, disease, management etc. can have a negative effect on the balance of theintestinal microflora resulting in poor growth and feed efficiency. In the past, antibiotics at subtherapeutic levels have been used to control the gut flora indirectly obtaining an improvement in broiler growth. However this option is now no longer available to the broiler producer and a number of feed additives and nutritional strategies have been developed, with greater or lesser success, to stabilize or manipulate the intestinal microflora. For example organic acids, mainly formic acid based blends, are widely accepted/used in poultry production systems to prevent the growth of potential pathogenic bacteria in the feed and to maintain a balanced flora in the intestines. Similarly, benzoic acid is being used in piglet diets at levels of up to 0.5 per cent resulting in an improved growth performance. In poultry, however, the pathway for benzoic acid metabolism is different from that in pigs. This may explain why trials in which the material has been incorporated into broiler feed at between 0.25 and 0.75 per cent, have resulted in less optimal performance. At lower levels (0.1 per cent), however, benzoic acid has shown positive effects on broiler performance. Also, on a practical level, the handling of pure benzoic acid can be difficult and may cause respiratory problems as well as irritation and redness of the skin.