We all are looking for the alternates to common antibiotics.Probiotics seems to be quite promising.But we are not able to depend on them as we depend on antibiotics,because we have opposite results in variuos trials.Still probiotics have not gained the universal acceptance.Some work need to be done in field, because alternate to antibiotic is a need.
Perhaps ruminants due to their highy evolved symbiosis with rumen mciroorganisms may give light on other species. In ruminants the condition called ACIDOSIS clearly offers a particular valuable scenario for gut and microbial interaction examination. What we have learned is that ruminal flora is highly changing and very related to diet and in particular to certain physical -chemical parameters of the rumen such as pH, volatuile fatty acid production (salmonella and E. Coli are naturally very low levels in rumens) mode of feed intake, intake level and others.
Contrary to popular belief the rumen is an open system capable of population succesions and in may cases it is the "invasory" flora the cause of disease.
If their is a correlation between stress and gut physiology, altering the the gut microbiota and the immunity level of the bird. Also if their are specific probiotic preparations playing specific role in animal response to stress. Then, in the tropics, the greatest stress to efficient poultry production is heat stress. What is the relationship between heat stress, gut physiology and gut microbiota?Is their any research result(s) on probiotics that will reduce the effect(s) of heat stress on animaal production?
Yes I also agree that probiotics are much useful for stress management. We have tried our product Spectra-DFM (which provides 5x107 cfu per gram of feed) against AGPs during the month of APR and MAY (Peak summer in India). It has performed better than AGPs and proved even to replace AGPs. It i sdue to the high concentration in the feed and 13 different essential organisms.
thank you for these added informations about probiotics
it will be valuable in poultry industry
Best Regards
I tend to agree with Mr. Philippe Gossart on this matter.
Even though probiotics are theoretically beneficial for the animal, there are a lot of factors at play in the field. Most of these factors cannot be controlled by human intervention. One example is the continuous battle between pathogenic and beneficial bacteria within the intestinal microbiota. This delicate and inverse relationship is also known as competitive exclusion (CE), where a increase in the beneficial/saprophytic bacterial population would lead to a decrease in the pathogenic bacterial numbers, and vice versa. In stressful conditions or when there is disease challenge, CE tends to favour the intestinal pathogens, such as E. coli and Salmonella. This is even more pronounced in immuno-compromised animals. That is why such bacteria are called opportunistic pathogens - they are ubiquitous and exist in the intestines in small and harmless numbers, but multiply rapidly in such critical situations to populous numbers that can cause intestinal disease, of which diarrhoea is usually the first clinical sign.
Therefore, it is my personal opinion that for the case of probiotics, sometimes they work, and sometimes they dont...and results are always variable. From my experience, they usually fail especially at times of dire and utmost need, which of course are during times of stress or disease challenge. During such critical periods, I would recommend an additive with more potent antibacterial properties, such as oregano essential oil, where killing efficacy is guaranteed and development of bacterial resistance is not possible. Oregano oil has been shown to improve the numbers of beneficial bacteria within the microbiota, such as Lactobacillus spp, while easily killing pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and Clostridium perfringens. The result is a balanced intestinal microbiota and healthier intestines, where absorption of nutrients from the feed can be maximised.