Alternatives to In-feed Anbiotics: do we really have some alternatives?

Really nice article on use of probiotics,prebiotics, phytogenic substances, organic acid, bacteriophages in the poultry produciton. Though the use of AGPs in the developing countries is still in practice but with increasing cusumer awareness and demand of antibiotic free products, the scope for the use of alternatives to AGPs is very bright. The wheel of time moving bachward towards nature and natural products.

Thanks for enlightening about the matter of debate on use of Antibiotic Growth Promoter in the animal farming industry. Alternative to AGP are worldwide sought. In our region also awareness of negative consequences of antibiotics are growing among poultry consumers and those section of consumers who preferred earlier to eat chicken meat in lieu of red meat are now think twice to use poultry products due to haphazardly use of antibiotics by poultry farmers. Selected organic acids in protected matrix with right pKa value and essential oils (EO) fortified with Mannan Oligosaccharides & β-Glucan has been a choice for many poultry farmers who wanted to replace AGP. A feed acidifier with brand name of RAAFRES is available in the market with the right formulation as stated above.

With my sincere thanks to the writer and most of the wonderful article with which I agree so much about all what was written. I think that a return to nature is the best solution for all problems arising from modern technological advances Actually there are many herbs with Antiobiotic Properties: garlic, oregano, thyme, echinacea, Pau darco, goldenseal, una da gato, myrrh, turmeric and etc. Most essential oils have at least a little antibiotic activity to their credit, but these are essential oils are more robust in their antibiotic action:Camphor, Cloves, Lemon, Oregano, Thyme, Tea Tree Oil, Special Blends and etc. There are many other alternatives: Colloidal Silver grapefruit seed extract, probiotics, prebeotics, zinc, copper, magnesium and etc.

Such a nice article seeking new broiler growth promoters Rational uses of antibiotics These are the support in high cost of feed ingredients.

Dear Dr Nasir, Thank you for your article. EU output of chicken meat grew by 1.6[percent] or around 600,000MT according to the FAO between 2006 and 2008 and following enforcement of the sub-therapeutic EU ban on AGP’s. This is a demonstration and a positive indicator to other nations that the EU ban did not have a detrimental affect on chicken meat production. There is no international system currently available to sufficiently characterise and quantify biological properties of plants, and finally standardise their use as antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antiprotozoal or antioxidant agents (Ilias G, 2008). However, Oregano is the plant which is known to have the most potent content of phenolic compounds and direct antimicrobial action against pathogenic bacteria. Oregano, is also well known for its’ antioxidant properties (Sivropoulou et al., 1996). When an effective commercially available phytogenic feed additive such as Orego-Stim is used, unlike AGP’s, intestinal pathogenic bacteria cannot develop resistance due to the unique mode of action on the cell membrane. Waldenstedt (2003) compared the difference between the use of a live attenuated coccidiostat vaccine and OEO in organic chicken broiler production. Numbers of Clostridium perfringens in caeca were significantly lower in chickens given OEO at 31 days (log10 cfu 4.1 vs. 6.1, p0.05), and chickens given OEO had a significantly higher live weight up to 48 days. Fukayama 2005 found that an oregano based phytogenic feed additive in comparison with antibiotic feed additives had similar results of growth performance, carcass quality, anatomical and physiological analysis of the GI tract, and intestinal bacterial composition. Several commercial trials which have not been published for reasons of proprietary protection have demonstrated that Orego-Stim is able to increase final harvest weights, reduce FCR and protect against problematic poultry pathogens. The fact that phytogenic feed additives are being so widely used in commercial production of poultry shows that they are a commercial success as well as scientific curiosity.

Thank you for your article .Today in Europe the antibiotic growth promoters are strictly prohibited in animal feed. They are replaced by alternatives such as the probiotic, prebiotic and symbiotic phytobiotique. Unfortunately these products are more expensive for farmers in developing countries and that is why their use is infrequent.