Dietary Non-Drug Feed Additive as an Alternative for Antibiotic Growth Promoters for Broilers During a Necrotic Enteritis Challenge

Abstract

Necrotic enteritis, caused by Clostridium perfringens, is an enteric disease that leads to poor performance and increased mortality, resulting in significant economic losses in poultry production. This study evaluated the effects of a proprietary prebiotic, probiotic, and plant extract blend on performance of broilers during coccidiosis challenge leading to necrotic enteritis (NE). In total, 744 Cobb500 male broilers were randomly allocated to 3 treatments (8 replicates, 31 birds/pen) including, the negative control (NC) fed a basal diet; the positive control (PC) fed a basal diet with Virginiamycin; and the additive group fed basal diet with a blend of prebiotic, probiotic, and plant extract (BSN). A unique, naturally occurring NE model developed to mimic field conditions was implemented to challenge the birds. This model consists of spraying a concentrated commercial coccidiosis vaccine on litter and feed upon bird placement, which, in conjunction with the presence of C. perfringens spores in the environment, leads to the development of a NE outbreak one week post vaccine application. At the onset of NE on d7, three birds/pen were selected for scoring NE lesions. Body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded on days 7, 14, 28, and 42. Carcass composition was assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) analysis on day 42. Dietary supplementation of BSN significantly (p < 0.05) improved FCR during starter and grower periods. Dietary treatments had no effect on NE lesions in the small intestine. DXA analysis revealed slightly higher lean content in BSN birds compared to NC. These results showed that dietary supplementation of the BSN blend significantly improved broilers performance during the early NE challenge phase, as well as in the grower period.

Dietary probiotics as a strategy for improving growth performance, intestinal efficacy, immunity, and antioxidant capacity of white Pekin ducks fed with different levels of CP

“…Supporting high-production animals demands precise strategies, such as exogenous enzymes, immunostimulant agents, antioxidants, acidifiers, probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics, to maintain quantity and quality of animal products and health ( Gao et al., 2007 ; Klasing, 2007 ; Gong et al., 2013 ; Munir and Maqsood, 2013 ; Puvača et al., 2019 ; El Basuini et al., 2020 ). The use of natural alternatives to antibiotics as growth promoters and immunostimulants of poultry has become widespread ( Castanon, 2007 ; Papatsiros et al., 2013 ; Stanton, 2013 ; Murugesan et al., 2015 ; Calik et al., 2019 ). Probiotics have become popular among commercial poultry producers to ameliorate overall poultry health and performance ( Roto et al., 2015 ).…”

Managing broilers gut health with antibiotic-free diets during subclinical necrotic enteritis

“…To simulate field conditions, a unique, naturally occurring model developed by our laboratory was applied to induce subclinical NE ( Calik et al., 2019 ; Emami et al., 2019 , 2020 ) using a concentrated dose of a commercial coccidiosis vaccine. Briefly, this model consists of spraying a high dose (10 X) of commercial coccidiosis vaccine 24 h after bird placement, which in conjunction with the presence of C .…”

“…Despite several reports, there has not been much emphasis on multicomponent additives or comparison of these additives with probiotics as alternatives to AGP, particularly during NE challenge. In a recent study, supplementation of a multicomponent additive had no effect on NE lesions in the small intestine of broiler chickens, but improved FCR during the starter and grower periods ( Calik et al., 2019 ). This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effects of a synbiotic ( Synb ) with 2 probiotics ( Prob ) on performance, pathology, and ileal mucosa microbial profiles during a naturally occurring NE challenge model.…”

Effect of Probiotics and Multi-Component Feed Additives on Microbiota, Gut Barrier and Immune Responses in Broiler Chickens During Subclinical Necrotic Enteritis

“…Despite several reports on the effect of probiotics, less attention has been paid to the effect of multi-component additives or comparison of these additives with probiotics as alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters especially during NE challenge. In a recent study, supplementation of a multicomponent additive had no effect on NE lesions in the small intestine of broiler chickens, but improved FCR during the starter and grower periods (26).…”