Kevin Watkins - The hardier, spore-forming probiotics (ie bacillus) are generally resistant to acidification of feed or water. The spore form exists to protect them from harsh environments, and that includes normal levels of feed acidification. Similarly, lactic acid producing species are generally more tolerant of a wide pH range due to their own metabolism having the ability to acidify their environment. It is the non-sporulating or non-acid producing microbes that suffer the most due to acidification of feed.
Thank you very much for this article. This will be the future of poultry infectious disease treatment.
Dear Dr. Nitin, the difference between these products are really big.
If you see how many companies tell you how important the coating is.
Second, if Glycerin added, not at all acids it makes sense to add Glycerin.
And not to all it is possible. But with the coating, it often starts and fails how effective the product is on the one side, and how good the uptake or palatability of the product is.
A lot of acids you really fast reach the max of inclusion rate and the level where animals are willing to eat it in a max. With this Diformiates you can feed really big amounts before the animals stop to eat.
Try some products yourself and you start to see a lot of the difference of this.
Mr. Hansen, I agree with you that there are so many products which have not shown that there is a synergetic effect.
It is proven that a lot of strains of different probiotics have no problems in the animals if diformate are present, as they have only impact on gram negative bacterias and on some macro bacterias.
I only believe in trials where the effect is shown that an addition is proven to be significant compared with the basic acid alone.
We are launching in Europe at the moment the first 3rd generation acid mixes, where we have done this trials. Not yet fully for all species but it will come by time.
By the way, Formi is always Kaliumdiformiate, Formi NDF is an advanced product which contains more acid than the basic formi 80% vs. 70% formic acid. And it is bound on Na instead of K. This offers as well Cl free Na to the diet and is a nice tool to reduce the Cl content in the poultry diet.
Dear Ahmed Anjum, I fully endorse that the good management practices are the basic step to achieve good performance from the flock. But when you talk about balance and safe feed, do you think it could be achieved without some additives being added to take care of bacterial contamination?
At the same time do you think water quality can be managed without maintaining its pH. Continuing, do you think we can provide "GERM-FREE ENVIRONMENT" to the birds with good MANAGEMENT practices only. In my opinion a big NO, you have to adopt judicious use of some feed additives that fit your situation.
Dear Ahmed Anjum,
I agree with you in a perfect world. Where we have 100% of farmers and natural birds under control. There we will have the control of this things.
Without a good management, we will never be able to go away from AGP and Zinc and other methods. But what is homeostasis in birds? No one till now could really answer me this question and show it to me how it should be, we start easy to use this words, but what does it mean.
We bred an animal which has all things we need if we look at broilers or at layers, but no one looked on homeostasis on breeding. The same in dairy, pigs, only in horses there it is a little better. Pet animals are the same.
We selected mutants which have brought us to the level we have today in our barns.
Homeostasis what the most understand should be our target. But till now we have no idea what exactly happens with which feed material under which interaction in the destine, the most of it base of models we have made to come close to what really happens. And so more we know so more we learn that we have to learn even more.
It is correct that there is not much research in the last 10 years on if the ph can change into alkaline, the last thing I remember was done with ca in layers if it contains too much Mg and therefore a slight change was observed this is one of the reasons why we try not to have it in in big quantities. But I think this was not done on university levels. And encapsulated acid doesn't change the ph really strong on slight it is more the action of the acid, against gram positive strains which we want, and this you can find in a lot of data done.
In Europe, we have a region where the level without AGP is already extremely high.
If you think on Broilers Denmark is running at average around 60g without too much AGP and nearly no vaccination in the barns. But still, they discuss heat stress...
So if we have all environmental things under control and the management as well, on this day we come closer to what you say. But till we reach this I think we have to work on a lot of ways to improve the health of our animals we keep, and the condition.
Salesmen are clever, but you are a salesman too, as you sell as consultant your work. So every one of us only can make his living when he sells something. If it is goods or knowledge, where is the difference?
Maybe we get one day the chance to discuss deeper with a coffee.
You said it kills microbes, what about bacterial adaptation? Perhaps you should take it into account in your strategy?