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Addressing poultry farming challenges with probiotics: highlights from 2023 PSA Annual Meeting

Addressing poultry farming challenges with probiotics: highlights from 2023 PSA Annual Meeting

This week three new poultry studies were unveiled at the Poultry Science Association (PSA) Annual Meeting 2023 in Philadelphia. The new studies focused on probiotic strains dedicated to poultry feeding, showing benefits in specific challenges of the poultry sector: coccidiosis challenge, necrotic enteritis challenge, and egg and bone mineralization in extended laying cycles.

We are very proud to present three trials conducted thanks to partnerships with leading international experts in renowned poultry research stations such as the University of Thessaloniki in Greece. This is already our third participation in a major poultry congress this year and not the last, with research spanning many areas of challenges for modern poultry production such as coccidiosis, microbiota establishment, inflammation, egg quality, bone mineralization, gut health, pullet quality, necrotic enteritis challenges.

She added:

Our poultry research strategy today is to keep investing in main poultry production challenges working with key opinion leaders, while also supporting field trials in commercial conditions close to the end-users. We also focus on developing on-farm practical tools to monitor visible signs in these field trials.

Main highlight of our probiotic studies:

Study 1 2 3
Production Layers Broiler Broiler
Trial location Dankook University, Korea University of Thessaloniki, Greece Southern Poultry Feed & Research Inc., United States
Challenge Extended production cycle (>50 weeks old) Coccidiosis (Eimeria) Necrotic Enteritis (NE) (Clostridium perfringens + Eimeria)
Probiotic tested Pediococcus acidilactici CNCM I-4622 (BACTOCELL) Bacillus pumilus NCIMB 30362 (EFFIXIENCE) Bacillus pumilus NCIMB 30362 (EFFIXIENCE)
Results Laying performance:
– Increased weight of marketable eggs
– Improved FCR

Egg quality:
– Reduced downgraded eggs
– Improved eggshell weight and Haugh units

Calcium metabolism:
– Improved Ca and P retention & blood levels

Bone strength:
– Increased bone quality: hardness, cohesiveness, and Ca and P content

Welfare & gut health:
– Faster oocyst excretion
– Reduced liver lesions
– Improved intestinal and dysbacteriosis scores
– Improved welfare score
Growth performance:
– Improved FCR
– Improved body weight homogeneity

Gut health (NE):
– Alleviated NE lesions (similar level to antibiotic virginiamycin)

Conclusion P. acidilactici CNCM I-4622 ( improved Ca and P absorption, which resulted in better bone mineralization, illustrated by better bone resistance, higher eggshell weight and reduction of downgraded eggs, which can positively impact the longevity of the production cycle. Bacillus pumilus NCIMB 30362 mitigated the negative effects of coccidiosis in broilers. Bacillus pumilus NCIMB 30362
mitigated the negative effects of NE in broilers at a comparable level of magnitude as the antibiotic.

REFERENCES

  1. Barbe F., E. Collins N., Krunshinskie E. Lebreton P., Sacy A., Demey V., Chevaux E., Castex M., Kim I. H., Seok W.J., Choi S.Y. 2023 The positive effect of probiotic supplementation on calcium metabolism and bone resistance and mineralization in old layers. PSA Annual meeting 2023, July 10-13 Philadelphia. Poster.
  2. Barbe F., Krunshinskie E., Lebreton P., Sacy A., Demey V., Chevaux E., Castex M., Mantzios T., Papadopoulos G.A., Giannenas I.,Tsiouris V. 2023. The positive impact of a bacillus pumilus-based product on oocyst excretion, bone length, welfare scores and lesion scoring during coccidiosis-induced challenge. PSA Annual meeting 2023, July 10-13 Philadelphia. Poster
  3. Barbe F., Krunshinskie E., Lebreton P., Sacy A.  Demey V. , Chevaux E., Castex M., Lumpkins B. S. , Mathis G. F. 2023.The positive impact of a bacillus pumilus-based product on broiler performance and lesion

Published Jul 12, 2023

PoultryProbioticsResearch and Development