Exploring seaweed supplementation as a tool to reduce antibiotic use and improve resilience to heat stress in poultry

Canada’s broiler chicken industry has taken great steps to reduce the use of antibiotics in production. Chicken Farmers of Canada successfully implemented a plan to remove both Category I and II antibiotics for preventive use from broiler feeds. There may be benefits from similar products for birds raised for egg production. Our research team has been involved in the evaluation of feed ingredients of marine origin. Seaweeds available off the Atlantic Coast of Canada were incorporated into broiler diets as potential alternatives to traditional antibiotics. Varying levels of success were achieved for broiler growth in the absence of antibiotics. In addition to these broiler studies, we have conducted studies with some of the same seaweeds included in laying hen diets. As the industry transitions away from conventional cages and is introduced to housing systems that allow birds to access manure there may be an increased need for the use of feed ingredients that beneficially modify the digestive tract microbiome. Evaluation of combinations of inclusion level and type of seaweed led to a challenge study where colonization of introduced Salmonella was diminished in the presence of dietary seaweed. We included heat stress treatments in seaweed feeding experiments with but were challenged to observe any impact on feed intake or product quality. In a series of studies, it was determined there are benefits to including certain seaweeds in the diet of poultry, that include modification of gut bacterial populations to improved growth performance in broiler chickens.

Keywords: seaweed, broilers, laying hens, prebiotic, performance.