Antibiotics also called antibacterial are medications which eliminate or reduce bacterial growth. They involve potential drugs used to treat diseases caused by bacteria. Antibiotic growth promoters involve drugs used to destroy bacterial growth in reasonable required levels. When starting the project, it is useful to keep in consideration that antibiotics that are good in growth might only perform well if used in large levels in keeping the poultry (Cervantes, 2015). Poultry production may reduce incase feeds are affected by any disease. The infection in the feeds can be controlled by using sub-therapeutic antimicrobial and efficient antibiotics. In many nations in the world, poultry is leading in growing as a source of meat. Many farms that deal with poultry produce their broilers in the market in not more than six weeks. The growth might come from improvement in the genetic, management in health services and the feeds they use daily. This can only be done in rural poultry by introducing antibiotics as the agents of therapeutic. It is recommended that antibiotics should not be used in large quantities in feeds since they can have negative effects on poultry health. Handling meat that is affected by the pathogen is likely to transfer the infection to human.
According to Cervantes, antibiotics are very useful to consider in a project due to their use in poultry as medicine which assist in treating poultry. For instance, prophylactic is an antibiotic used to prevent infection and promote utilization of the feeds and their productivity. Therapeutic treatment can be delivered to poultry by either use of water or feeds. Sometimes the animals do not drink water which makes the treatment in some cases doubtful efficacy. The invention of antibiotics as growth promoters resulted to the use Antibiotic Feed Additives (AFAs) in animal feed at preferred doses which is beneficial to poultry growth as well as health improvement.
A challenge in the continued use of AFAs is that it results in the collection and distribution of poultry pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics like, Escherichia coli, Salmonella along with Campylobacter. They also interfere with the safety of poultry products through increased microbial deposits since human beings can obtain resistant bacteria through the consumption of animal products or handling meat with contaminated pathogens. While in the human system they inhabit the intestines and the resistant gene finds its way to the endogenous intestinal flora hindering future treatments by such organisms. Increase in drug-resistant pathogens and development of antibiotic-related pollutants in the environment raises a global issue thus becoming a big challenge. Due to these challenges, studies were conducted to come up with new effective alternatives to antibiotics which do not affect poultry productivity.
Due to these negative effects caused by antibiotics in poultry production, various regulatory bodies and health-based organizations came up with various alternatives that can function the same way as antibiotics in growth promotion, disease prevention and killing of harmful pathogens in poultry. Therefore, feed additive alternatives for antibiotic-free poultry productions were preferred for use to reduce the harmful effects caused by antibiotics. Certain products have shown desirable results in experimental studies but their use has not been commonly used on commercial operations. Efficacy must be measured and proven on the choice of the right alternatives. Measuring efficacy for disease prevention can be done in terms of decrease in intestinal lesions, reduction in diarrhea and few disease outcomes.
Poultry feed additive alternatives to antibiotics involve therapeutic amounts substances added in poultry’s diet to improve the efficiency in their laying capacity and growth, protecting them from diseases and helps in the proper use of the feed. They are added to function like antibiotics to enhance growth, productivity, and protection from bacteria. All additives used in poultry feed should be used as per the guidelines in accordance with the period of feeding, type, and age of the poultry being fed on. These guidelines are enforced by the department of agriculture. According to Cervantes, organic acids, antimicrobials, enzymes, antioxidants and PH control agents that are frequently used feed additives in poultry diets. Additives may sometimes be used to add flavor and sweetness when the poultry is used as food by man. The mainly use alternatives include the following:
Organic acids
They are characterized with strong bacteriostatic effects thus used as agents to regulate salmonella in feeds and water supplies for poultry. Citric and acetic acids are alternatives for growth and disease prevention. They support the growth of some acid loving useful bacteria which promotes the stomach physiological functions by increasing its acidity levels. They promote growth and prevent diseases thus the addition of these acids to the diet improve growth and increase weight gain in broiler chickens. These organic acids in feeds also reduce the survival of pathogens in the gut.
In feed enzymes
Supplementation of enzymes in the diet is more effective in the absence of antibiotics. The effect of enzymes is almost the same as the effects of antibiotics on weight gain. Enzymes are most preferred for use due to their capability of minimizing performance losses resulting from the removal of antibiotic growth promoters. They help in proper feed digestion and ensure nutrients are accessible to the host and manipulate the gut microbial ecosystem. They interfere with gut microflora inhabitants in the small intestines and caeca and decrease death rates. Enzymes enable chicken to break down and digest materials from plants like pectin and cellulose that cannot be used properly. Enzymes control destruction by plant parts not digested through polishing against the inner lining of the intestine halt larger molecules to complexes with prebiotics which are beneficial. They also prevent diseases like necrotic enteritis in chickens. A study conducted found that the inclusion of enzymes in the diet led to a five percent increase in efficiency in the feed. There was an increase in weight and improved diets containing in-feed enzymes. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has done research on the safety of xylanases and beta-gluconases and proved that they are safe and can properly be used as growth promoters in broiler chickens and turkeys.
They are compounds derived from plants such as essential oils, tannins, and herbs. Some of these compounds destroy microbial growth like carvacrol from oregano. They function in the same way as antibiotic compounds produced by fungi and can be used instead of antibiotic growth promoters when used in feeds in large amounts than when in their natural forms. Increased use can result in the advancement of resistance in some pathogenic bacteria. Essential oils are alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters. Oregano has phenolic amounts such as carvacrol with antimicrobial activity in altering gut microflora and decreasing microbial capacity through destroying bacteria proliferation. They also prevent illnesses. EFSA confirmed essential oils as safe and capable in enhancing growth in chicken depending on the effectiveness of the used plant. Chinese herbs are used in growth promotion and gut health in chicken. Other studies have reached a conclusion that these phytochemicals have shown good results in disease prevention and increase in weight thus growth improvement while other studies have failed to detect this benefit (Hashemi & Davoodi 2010). When the essential oils are used in feeds, they enhance gastrointestinal health in chicken purposely used for meat and decrease coccidian parasites in chicken. The main challenge in phytochemical use is that they must be used in large quantities to function as antimicrobials thus this concentrated amounts negatively affects meat quality in broilers.
Prebiotics These are organic compounds like sugars which when added to the diet they are not digested by chicken but instead, they are split down by beneficial microorganisms in the gut, that stimulates these microbes and other microorganisms’ growth. They favor helpful microbes in the intestines. The microorganisms compete with harmful bacteria and protect the immune system. They are used commercially in chicken to prevent illnesses, improve general health in the gut and promote growth. A study by European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that prebiotics is capable of controlling diseases and increasing growth. Considering the studies done on the efficacy of prebiotics in disease prevention in chicken, it is proved limited and more efficient in the destruction of pathogens and enhancing health in the gut. Products like fructo-oligosaccharides and mannan have been proved to be more efficient than others. Probiotics They are live culture microorganisms like yeast, fungi, and bacteria added to the diet of chicken to ensure a proper balance of microbial in the digestive tract. They are divided into defined and undefined probiotics. Defined involve single strains or mixtures of specific microorganisms whereby every organism is described to species level, with defined culture composition and sequencing of genomes to ensure there are no resistance antibiotic genes. Undefined probiotics contain mixtures of microbes that are not properly designated and have higher ability than the defined probiotics. They both prevent diseases and give treatment results to improved productivity due to increased growth. They are widely used in the United States in poultry farming. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations have confirmed good results on increased yields and good health in poultry and efficacy has been proved in chicken. Another study recorded improvement in productivity and intestinal health in newly hatched chicks and a reduction in mortality rates by twenty percent. In egg-laying hens, there is a rise in the number of eggs per day thus an improvement in productivity (Hashemi & Davoodi, 2010). Another study showed that probiotic bacteria regulated clinical symptoms of coccidiosis thus avoiding the use of ionophores antibiotics in averting illnesses linked with coccidiosis. Administration and storage of probiotics are a big challenge when it comes to probiotic use as a feed additive alternative in replacement to antibiotics. When preparing feed pellets, chicken feeds are exposed to high heat when manufacturing thus the excess heat can inactivate probiotics. This challenge occurs in some feeds and not others. Since live cultures are administered, probiotics are risky since they might not be desirable for use and changes in bacterial balance in the gut can have a negative effect.
These are short molecules with antibacterial characteristics toxic to specific bacteria which can be used as alternatives for growth, disease prevention and treatment in chicken. An opinion by EFSA and EMA has concluded antibacterial peptides as effective for enhancing growth and improving the health of the gut in chicken reporting a seven percent increase in weight. A study proved that antimicrobial peptides reduce pathogens in the intestines and destroy harmful bacteria by promoting the growth of microorganisms that are useful on broiler chicken.
These naturally occurring elements are added in feeds in large amounts to promote growth as therapy for other enteric diseases. The European Commission has confirmed copper to be useful in growth promotion in broiler chicken. A study proved that supplementation of chicken feeds with copper, zinc and manganese minerals improved daily gains in broilers due to increased weight. Copper also increases egg-laying capacity. Some rare elements like scandium and lanthanum and clay minerals like zeolites and bentonites have been advised for use as growth promoters and disease control. The efficiency of data on these metals is limited and conflicting and safety is an issue of concern issues since some of the heavy metals may leave toxic elements in meat which can affect consumers’ well-being as they may cause diseases like cancer.
Strict regulatory requirements may limit commercial development of feed alternatives and can have negative effects on the market size for the feed alternatives if antibiotics will still remain available for producers and animal health experts. There are also difficulties in evaluation of incentives for implementation due to unavailability of cost-effective data. Administration and storage of some of these feed additive antibiotic alternatives like probiotics are difficult thus becoming an issue of concern in using them. Regulatory restrictions on licensing of these alternatives are also a challenge since efficacy must be proved by various regulatory bodies and organizations to ensure their safety in poultry, human consumption, and the environment.
Conclusion
Basing on the consumer demands and regulations from the government, various regulatory bodies are organizations related to food safety, poultry production should ensure worldwide production of chicken in the absence of antibiotic growth promoters. The feed additive alternatives to antibiotics might not be as effective as antibiotics but when the feed additives and strategy are combined, they can improve health and enhance growth and production. Selection of the appropriate cost-effective approach depends on production requirements of every company and the production challenges faced.
References
Cervantes, H. M. (2015). Antibiotic-free poultry production: is it sustainable?. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 24(1), 91-97.
Hashemi, S. R., & Davoodi, H. (2010). Phytogenics as a new class of feed additive in the poultry industry. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 9(17), 2295-2304.
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