Feed Additive Alternatives in Antibiotic-Free Poultry Production

This essay discusses the alternatives of feed additives in antibiotic-free poultry production. It covers probiotics, prebiotics, organic acids, dietary enzymes, and plant extracts. These alternatives can enhance gut health and reduce the use of antibiotics.

Running Head: FA
0
Food additives
Essay
student
5/15/2019

FA
1
Feed additive alternatives in antibiotic-free poultry production
A feed additive is a product that commonly used as the supplement to animal nutrition to
farm the animals which deficient in getting enough nutrients from normal means to encounter the
target of enhancing animals health and functioning, quality of feed and food from the animal
(Cervantes, 2015). The feed additives are the amino acids, fatty acids and vitamins. Antibiotics
are the major demand for generating the product with a share of higher than 27 per cent in 2011.
Four common types of feed additives are sensory additives, zoo-technical additive, nutritional
additives, and coccidiostats and histomonostats additives. The consumptions of antibiotics are
high because of increasing demand in the regions of Asia and Latin America regions to
encounter the increased domestic and export demands of meat. Improving production of
antibiotic-free poultry meat is now become a common trend in different parts of the world as
using antibiotics in chicken production creating health issues, and other issues like antibiotic
resistance and superbugs (Yang, Iji, & Choct, 2009). In this particular research essay, the
alternatives of feed additives in antibiotic-free poultry production will be discussed.
According to Seal, Lillehoj, Donovan, & Gay, (2013), producing antibiotic-free poultry is
a common practice globally, since the growth pomotant antibiotics or GPA has been banned by
certain governments and due to various consumers are continuously avoiding the food products
containing antibiotics. Widespread antibiotic use causes multidrug-resistant pathogen
colonisations. Antibiotic-resistant humanoid illnesses clearly occur because of the
microorganisms from the livestock treated with antibiotic, According to Wati, Ghosh, Syed, &
Haldar, (2015), in 1970 increased doses of antibiotics delivered in chickens resulted in resistant
salmonella strains identified in both chicken and eggs. in animals livestock Fluoroquinolones are
used that may subsidize to the augmented resistance in the foodborne micro-organisms which

FA
2
further infects humans. To reduce these issues, different alternatives are being used. There are a
number of feed additives can be involved in the feed to enhance the gut health, like probiotics,
prebiotics, enzymes, organic acids, and essential oils (example plant extracts, herb extracts, and
phytobiotcis).
All the alternatives have their own features and characteristics; probiotic introduce the
desirable live microorganism into the gastrointestinal tract. Prebiotics promotes the development
of the desirable bacterium in the gastrointestinal tract. Enzymes assist in eliminating the anti-
nutritional impacts of the water-soluble polysaccharides, and the also change the substrates to
enhance the proliferation of certain microbial communicates. The organic acid is known for
causing the inhibition of bacterial growth. The essential oil can support the balance of gut
microflora, stimulates the production of digestive enzymes and the resistance system (Yadav,
Kolluri, Gopi, Karthik, & Singh, 2016).
According to Gaggìa, Mattarelli, & Biavati, (2010), the combination of prebiotics and
probiotics can also be used as the synbiotics. Every type of product provided varied efficacy
while delivered independently or in the form of combinations. It is essential to point out that
every product collection discussed is a large category, as wide as antibiotics, and subsequently
almost all the products have specific features and impacts. Specifically appropriate testing,
application, and rotations can confirm the success of this combined alternative of antibiotics in
the sustainable anti-biotic free (ABF) programs. Categories of the phytobiotics, EO blends are
combinations of the phytochemicals element with the selective antimicrobial abilities, for
example, carvacrol, thymol, cinnamaldehyde, among other compounds. Mookiah, Sieo,
Ramasamy, Abdullah, & Ho, (2014), reported that certain specific essential oils blends have
displayed promising towards the reduction of the clostridium perfringens development and

FA
3
colonization and control of the coccida infection, subsequently assisting to decrease necrotic
enteritis. In addition, a combination of essential oils with the benzoic acid has displayed a
reduction in the production of mucin in the small intestine for the broilers.
Gaggia, Di Gioia, Baffoni, & Biavati, (2011), on the other hand, favours the use of
probiotics a recommended that they should be used as the alternative of antibiotics. According to
them, a probiotic is the culture of a lone bacterial strain or a combination of dissimilar strains,
that can be served to an animal to advance some feature of its health. The Probiotics are similarly
referred to as the direct fed microbial or DFM. A range of dissimilar types of microorganisms,
and in certain cases even indeterminate cultures, have been verified as probiotics used in poultry.
Oral immunization of Bacillus subtilis spores may decrease intestinal settlement of Escherichia
coli in the chickens. Microorganisms like Salmonella and Campylobacter are the two most
mutual bacteria that causes of foodborne disease, and insufficient studies have exposed that
probiotics might be capable to decrease the quantity of these microorganisms that are inside
chicken’s body. Hajati, & Rezaei, (2010), identified that Feeding some probiotics to poultry
might alter their gut microflora in a manner that is helpful to the wellbeing of consumers by
dropping the number of possible foodborne pathogens. Feeding the layer diets complemented
with Lactobacillus occasioned in better feed feeding, egg bulk, and egg heaviness than for hens
getting un-supplemented foods.
Alloui, Szczurek, & Świątkiewicz, (2013), revealed that prebiotics is the carbohydrates
that are non-digestible. Numerous of these types of carbohydrates are actually the short chains of
monosaccharides, termed as oligosaccharides. Certain oligosaccharides are supposed to improve
the development of helpful bacteria in the gut area, and others are believed to work as modest
supplement locations for infectious microorganisms. Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and

FA
4
mannan-oligo-saccharides are the most usually studied prebiotic oligosaccharides. FOS can be
originating naturally in onions and certain types of cereal crops. The Mannan-oligosaccharides is
attained from the cell wall of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). They further found that FOS
diets comprising 0.4 per cent FOS leads to significant developments in regular daily addition and
feed competence paralleled with those served the control nourishment. An inferior presence level
(0.2 per cent) did advance feed competence suggestively but not regular everyday gain. The 0.4
per cent level was similarly linked with considerably more valuable microorganisms.
Hashemi, & Davoodi, (2010), supported organic acid in their article and reported that
Organic acids are investigated by different researchers and as the tool to decrease undesirable
bacteria throughout poultry production. In certain readings, acids were supplemented to the
drinking water, while in other studies they were mixed to the feedstuff. One reading identified
the influence of feeding dissimilar levels (from 0.5 to 0.68 percent) of a fusion of formic and the
propionic acids on the intestinal settlement from Salmonella established by inoculated feed. They
identified that chickens getting the diets comprising the organic acids showed a lower occurrence
of intestinal establishment than those chickens getting the untreated control foods. Likewise, one
research reported that the feeding diets comprising 0.3 per cent of caproic acid led to a
substantial reduction in growth by Salmonella Enteritidis bacteria in chicken’s ceca and the
internal organs (Isabel, & Santos, 2009). Oppositely, Adil, et al., (2011), reported some results
that might somewhat oppose with those statements in the readings mentioned above. They
establish that by mixing formic and the propionic acid, correspondingly, they abridged the entire
quantity of acid, comprising lactic acid, in the crop matched with control chickens. They
determined that their mixed acids (such as formic and propionic) could have exterminated certain
of the lactic acid-generating microorganisms usually existing in the crop. Swiatkiewicz, &

FA
5
Arczewska-Wlosek (2012) also supported that use of organic acid as an alternative of antibiotics
and identified that The Organic acids and associated salts have been applied for years as the feed
condiments and are measured as normally documented as Harmless for meat foodstuffs. They
further found that nutritional supplementation of these organic acids has exposed to upsurge the
CD4 cells counts and faster immune reaction. The use of these Organic acids has been revealed
to have important benefits in production associated with pig and poultry in the past few years.
Nutritional supplementation of the fumaric acid in the broiler chickens was presented to advance
weight improvement and feed efficacy.
Hashemipour, Kermanshahi, Golian, & Veldkamp, (2013), supported the use of dietary
enzymes as the alternative of antibiotics. Dietary enzymes are recognised as the biologically
vigorous proteins that enable the chemical breakdown of ingested nutrients to the minor
composites for additional ingestion and absorption. They further stated that Numerous enzymes,
resulting from microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) by the process of fermentation, are used in
the feeds of swine and the poultry for last numerous years, and their worth in augmenting
development and feedstuff competence is well prominent. According to Wati, Ghosh, Syed, &
Haldar, (2015), the dissimilar classes of enzymes usually engaged comprise phytase,
carbohydrates, and proteases. The influence of numerous in-feed enzymes in refining the
development and feed efficacy in poultry is well recognized and studied.
Papatsiros, Katsoulos, Koutoulis, Karatzia, Dedousi, & Christodoulopoulos (2013),
identified that numerous plant extracts, particularly essential oils, are examined for their actual
antimicrobial capabilities. Maximum of the investigation done to this extent has been completed
in vitro; however, there are insufficient investigations with the live poultry herds. One current
study containing live birds presented that mixtures of the primary constituents of essential oils

FA
6
may be applied to address Clostridium perfringens, which is the bacterium that responsible for
necrotic enteritis in the broilers. Bacteriophages are extremely species-particular viruses that
destroy bacteria by the creation of endolysins and the following bacterial cells lysis, the
Bacteriophages might be measured safe antibiotic replacements as they display no action against
the cells of animal and plant. Papatsiros et al. (2013) also reported that they have been applied to
stop and treat numerous bacterial illnesses in humans and creatures. An important amount of
investigation was similarly completed on their application to control the food-borne pathogenic
agents present on agricultural and poultry items.
Murugesan, Syed, Haldar, & Pender, (2015), identified that Phytogenic feed additives or
PFAs, similarly mentioned as photobiotic or the botanicals, are complexes that are natural
bioactive resulting from plants and combined into feedstuff of animals to improve productivity.
A widespread variety of plants and their items comes under this specific group and, grounded on
their source. The attention in phytogenic feedstuff additives has significantly increased
throughout the past few years. They additionally reported that PFAs are usually defined as the
plant-derivative composites combined into the farm animals’ foods, including herbs, spices and
the essential oils. According to Abudabos, Alyemni, Dafalla, & Khan, (2016), Phytogenic feed
additives have helpful effects on the farm creatures, counting improvement of development
parameters by amelioration of feedstuff possessions, the elevation of the creatures’ production
performance, and refining the superiority of food resulting from animals.
Most of the researches have been conducted and showed results that do not support the
use of antibiotics, though there are certain investigators who support the antibiotics used in the
poultry. According to Diarra, & Malouin, (2014), the usage of antibiotics in food-making
creatures has meaningfully amplified animal wellbeing by dropping mortality and the occurrence

FA
7
of illnesses. Antibiotics similarly have mostly subsidized to upsurge the output of farms. Though,
antibiotic practice in overall and significance of non-therapeutic antibiotics (development or
growth organizers) in feedstuff require to be re-assessed particularly because microbial
pathogens of individuals and animals have advanced and shared a range of antibiotic
confrontation processes that can certainly be transport inside bacterial colonies.
According to Cervantes, (2015), there is a slight substantial scientific indication that the
usage of antibiotics in the food-producing creatures is subsidising to the antibiotic confrontation
problems that are pertinent to humanoid medication. Though, public opinion in first-world
nations proposes that customers consider this to be factual. Rendering to the U.S. Organic Trade
Association, trades of antibiotic restricted (ABF) organic nutrients have developed at a degree of
20 per cent each year after 1990. It has been widely identified that antibiotic confrontation in
individuals is triggered by antibiotic use in individuals and not in food- generating animals
Feed additives are the products that usually used as the supplement to the animal food
provided to them in farms, which deficient in the receiving a sufficient amount of nutrition from
the normal resources. Antibiotics are commonly in animal’s food for many years, but in the last
few years, consumers are considering the antibiotic-free animal-derived food. This particular
essay identified different Feed additive alternatives in antibiotic-free poultry production. Some of
the alternatives that have been supported by different researchers include probiotics, prebiotics,
organic acids, dietary enzymes, plants extracts, and phytogenic feed additives. Probiotics can be
helpful to decrease the number of possible foodborne pathogens. Prebiotics are helpful to
increase the numbers of beneficial bacteria in the gut. Consuming organic acids can reduce
colonization if bacteria like salmonella Enteritidis. Dietary enzymes are used to increase the
growth and feed efficacy in poultry. The plant extracts like essential oils have efficient

FA
8
antimicrobial activity. there some researches have been done which supports the use of
antibiotics in feed and identified that using these compounds can enhance the animal's health and
increase farm productivity. Therefore it can be concluded that there are more researches should
be done on antibiotic use in poultry.

FA
9
References
Abudabos, A. M., Alyemni, A. H., Dafalla, Y. M., & Khan, R. U. (2016). The effect of
phytogenic feed additives to substitute in-feed antibiotics on growth traits and blood
biochemical parameters in broiler chicks challenged with Salmonella
typhimurium. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23(23), 24151-24157.
Adil, S., Banday, T., AHMAD BHAT, G., Salahuddin, M., Raquib, M., & Shanaz, S. (2011).
Response of broiler chicken to dietary supplementation of organic acids. Journal of
Central European Agriculture, 12(3), 0-0.
Alloui, M. N., Szczurek, W., & Świątkiewicz, S. (2013). The usefulness of prebiotics and
probiotics in modern poultry nutrition: A review/Przydatność prebiotyków i probiotyków
w nowoczesnym żywieniu drobiu–przegląd. Annals of Animal Science, 13(1), 17-32.
Cervantes, H. M. (2015). Antibiotic-free poultry production: is it sustainable?. Journal of
Applied Poultry Research, 24(1), 91-97.
Cervantes, H. M. (2015). Antibiotic-free poultry production: is it sustainable?. Journal of
Applied Poultry Research, 24(1), 91-97.
Diarra, M. S., & Malouin, F. (2014). Antibiotics in Canadian poultry productions and anticipated
alternatives. Frontiers in microbiology, 5, 282.
Gaggia, F., Di Gioia, D., Baffoni, L., & Biavati, B. (2011). The role of protective and probiotic
cultures in food and feed and their impact in food safety. Trends in food science &
technology, 22, S58-S66.

FA
10
Gaggìa, F., Mattarelli, P., & Biavati, B. (2010). Probiotics and prebiotics in animal feeding for
safe food production. International journal of food microbiology, 141, S15-S28.
Hajati, H., & Rezaei, M. (2010). The application of prebiotics in poultry production. Int J Poult
Sci, 9(3), 298-304.
Hashemi, S. R., & Davoodi, H. (2010). Phytogenics as new class of feed additive in poultry
industry. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 9(17), 2295-2304.
Hashemipour, H., Kermanshahi, H., Golian, A., & Veldkamp, T. (2013). Effect of thymol and
carvacrol feed supplementation on performance, antioxidant enzyme activities, fatty acid
composition, digestive enzyme activities, and immune response in broiler
chickens. Poultry Science, 92(8), 2059-2069.
Isabel, B., & Santos, Y. (2009). Effects of dietary organic acids and essential oils on growth
performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. Journal of Applied Poultry
Research, 18(3), 472-476.
Mookiah, S., Sieo, C. C., Ramasamy, K., Abdullah, N., & Ho, Y. W. (2014). Effects of dietary
prebiotics, probiotic and synbiotics on performance, caecal bacterial populations and
caecal fermentation concentrations of broiler chickens. Journal of the Science of Food
and Agriculture, 94(2), 341-348.
Murugesan, G. R., Syed, B., Haldar, S., & Pender, C. (2015). Phytogenic feed additives as an
alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in broiler chickens. Frontiers in veterinary
science, 2, 21.

FA
11
Papatsiros, V. G., Katsoulos, P. D., Koutoulis, K. C., Karatzia, M., Dedousi, A., &
Christodoulopoulos, G. (2013). Alternatives to antibiotics for farm animals. CAB Rev, 8,
1-15.
Seal, B. S., Lillehoj, H. S., Donovan, D. M., & Gay, C. G. (2013). Alternatives to antibiotics: a
symposium on the challenges and solutions for animal production. Animal Health
Research Reviews, 14(1), 78-87.
Swiatkiewicz, S., & Arczewska-Wlosek, A. (2012). Prebiotic fructans and organic acids as feed
additives improving mineral availability. World's Poultry Science Journal, 68(2), 269-
279.
Wati, T., Ghosh, T. K., Syed, B., & Haldar, S. (2015). Comparative efficacy of a phytogenic feed
additive and an antibiotic growth promoter on production performance, caecal microbial
population and humoral immune response of broiler chickens inoculated with enteric
pathogens. Animal Nutrition, 1(3), 213-219.
Wati, T., Ghosh, T. K., Syed, B., & Haldar, S. (2015). Comparative efficacy of a phytogenic feed
additive and an antibiotic growth promoter on production performance, caecal microbial
population and humoral immune response of broiler chickens inoculated with enteric
pathogens. Animal Nutrition, 1(3), 213-219.
Yadav, A. S., Kolluri, G., Gopi, M., Karthik, K., & Singh, Y. (2016). Exploring alternatives to
antibiotics as health promoting agents in poultry-A review. J Exp Biol, 4(3S-10.18006),
3S.

FA
12
Yang, Y., Iji, P. A., & Choct, M. (2009). Dietary modulation of gut microflora in broiler
chickens: a review of the role of six kinds of alternatives to in-feed antibiotics. World's
Poultry Science Journal, 65(1), 97-114.