Phileo uses its expertise to improve poultry gut health

Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care has reaffirmed its commitment to improving poultry gut health through nutrition. At the 3rd IHSIG International Symposium on Poultry Gut Health held on 15– 16 October 2015 in Ghent, Belgium, Dr Romain D’Inca, in charge of monogastric species R&D for Phileo, presented the company’s latest experiments with Nucleosaf 600, a product designed to get chicks off to a better start. Following the event, USDA Research Microbiologist Dr Mike Kogut and Maarten De Gussem, a veterinary surgeon and consultant in Belgium, contributed their scientific expertise on poultry innate and specific immunity at a web conference organised by Phileo (www.phileo-webconference.com). Phileo stressed the benefits of supplementing chicks with Safmannan from the earliest age to “modulate” their innate immunity and potentiate their vaccine response.

At the symposium, Dr Romain D’Inca presented a trial conducted at IRTA in Spain in early 2015, supplementing the feed of chicks aged 0 to 10 days with Nucleosaf 600, a yeast extract produced and developed by Phileo. “We measured the impact of Nucleosaf 600 supplementation on the height of intestinal villi, which has a direct effect on food absorption, and on goblet cells, which help protect the intestinal wall. The results for both are very positive, showing a definite dose-dependent effect. The best results were obtained with 0.4% and 0.6% concentrations.” This study confirms the benefits of supplementing feed with the Nucleosaf 600 solution between 0 and 10 days in order to help batches get off to a good start and to improve farming success through suitable and controlled nutrition.

Innate immunity “is a mechanism that allows poultry to react to external aggressions such as stress or disease,” said Dr Mike Kogut, invited by Phileo in his capacity as an expert. “It is a quick, non-specific reaction, a kind of first-line defence. However, this immunity can trigger ‘over-inflammation’, which can harm animal development.” Recent Phileo R&D has shown that supplementation with Safmannan, a premium yeast fraction produced and developed in the company’s own industrial facilities, from the earliest age (i.e. between 0 and 10 days) can “modulate” the immune response, allowing farmers to reap only the benefits of innate immunity without impeding animal growth.

“Chicks need to receive the vaccine very early on to protect them from stress, which can affect their growth,” said Maarten de Güssem at the web conference. “Early vaccination will become even more necessary by 2020, when the rearing period will be reduced from 42 to just 35 days for chickens weighing over 2.5 kg.” Phileo has shown that early supplementation with Safmannan best prepares 2 chicks for enjoying the full benefits of vaccination. “The components of the Safmannan formula react with the animal’s immune cells to activate the various immunity pathways. Phileo experiments, both in laboratory conditions and on farms around the world, have shown that poultry supplemented from their first days of life with Safmannan have higher antibody levels 10 to 15 days after vaccination than chicks that have not ingested Safmannan. This form of vaccination management holds great promise, because it improves vaccine response and so ensures animals are in good health for more effective farming,” said Alain Riggi, poultry technical manager for Phileo. “We are also exploring another avenue of research in our laboratories, which involves purifying certain Safmannan components, such as betaglucans, to improve the vaccine response.”

A promising future confirming Phileo’s commitment to help poultry farmers by providing them with nutritional solutions that improve animal welfare.