Dr. Steve Collett

1. IntroductionModern American agriculture has become successful in producing food security despite having less than 1% of the US population actually listing farming as their occupation [1]. The US Census of Agriculture estimates that 8.6 billion broiler chickens, 107 million turkeys, 96 million beef cattle, and 68 million pigs were sold for meat in 2007 with an additional 350 million laying hens ...

INTRODUCTION A 2012 survey of the US broiler industry to determine and rank production challenges indicated that gut health management was paramount in the minds of those involved with live production (23). This is not surprising since intestinal integrity determines feed efficiency, the most important economic driver of the meat industry. Since then, some significant changes in the industry have ...

Introduction The impact of gastrointestinal disease ranges from erosive to catastrophic, and considerable time, effort and financial resources are devoted to limiting the risk and consequence of disease challenge. Intense breeding and selection programmes have provided birds with the genetic potential to perform in the face of disease challenge, while good biosecurity has reduced the risk and cons ...

Abstract Poultry litter becomes wet when the rate of water addition (urine/faeces/spillage) exceeds the rate of removal (evaporation). Anti-nutritional factors, toxins, pathogens and nutrient imbalances may cause wet litter directly by altering normal digestive physiology or indirectly by disturbing normal gut ecology.Poor quality ingredients and those with excess oligosaccharides or minerals can ...

The intimate relationship in the gastrointestinal tract between gut flora and the host has evolved over thousands of years. Intense genetic selection and breeding for improved feed efficiency and intensive agricultural practices have accelerated the progression towards establishing a balance between the efficiencies of immune tolerance and the cost of defense at the gut/ microbe interface. Several ...