Probiotics as a Friendly Antibiotic Alternative: Assessment of Their Effects on the Health and Productive Performance of Poultry

Abstract

Antibiotics have been used to maintain the overall health of poultry by increasing production efficiency, promoting growth, and improving intestinal function for more than 50 years. However, they have a number of side effects, such as antibiotic resistance, gut dysbiosis, destruction of beneficial bacteria, and the potential to spread diseases to humans. In order to address the aforementioned issues, a lot of effort is put into the development of antibiotic alternatives. One of them is the use of probiotics that can be added to the feed in order to increase poultry performance and avoid the aforementioned problems. Probiotics are live microorganisms consumed as feed additives or supplements. They function in the poultry gastrointestinal tract to benefit the host. Probiotics improve growth performance, bone health, meat and eggshell quality. The addition of probiotics to the diet also positively affects the immune response, intestinal microflora, and disease resistance. Careful selection of probiotic strains is of utmost importance. This review focuses on the significance of probiotics as a potential antibiotic-free alternative and the way in which they can be used as supplements in poultry feed for boosting production and safeguarding health.

Efficacy of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fermentation Product and Probiotic Supplementation on Growth Performance, Gut Microflora and Immunity of Broiler Chickens

“…Dietary addition of SCFP in the experimental birds did not alter the concentration of glucose, total protein, albumin, triglyceride and uric acid in serum, which confirmed the absence of adverse side effects in the studied birds [ 35 ]. In agreement with earlier reports [ 43 , 44 ], the present study also confirmed significant reduction of blood cholesterol concentration in SCFP-treated birds compared to the control or probiotic-fed groups. Lower serum concentration of cholesterol in the birds is associated with production of eggs with a low cholesterol level, which is especially popular among health-conscious consumers [ 45 ].…”

The Role of Supplementing a Complex Phytobiotic Feed Additive Containing (Castanea sativa mill) Extract in Combination with Calcium Butyrate, Zinc–Methionine and Essential Oils on Growth Indicators, Blood Profile and Carcass Quality of Broiler Chickens

“…Modern industrial poultry farming, both urgent and broiler, is widely used all over the world by many approaches or alternative natural feed additives in feed to increase productivity, improve animal welfare and, ultimately, achieve the sustainability of animal husbandry [ 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 33 ]. Of course, the ban on the use of antibiotics when feeding poultry and other types of productive farm animals has positively affected the increase in alternative sources of biologically active substances, such as pro- and prebiotics [ 10 , 11 , 22 , 27 ], enzymes [ 11 , 34 ], symbiotics [ 27 , 34 ], organic acids [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], essential oils [ 10 , 11 , 13 , 20 ], medicinal herbs [ 36 , 40 , 41 ], phytobiotics [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 11 , …”

“…Currently, manufacturers of feed additives face two tasks: the production of additives with a bactericidal effect, as well as stimulating the growth and development of high-quality muscle tissue [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. There are more than a dozen solutions on the market having the above properties with varying degrees of effectiveness, such as probiotics [ 19 , 22 , 24 ], prebiotics [ 24 , 25 , 26 ], symbiotics [ 25 , 26 , 27 ], enzymes [ 25 , 26 ], phytobiotics [ 2 , 3 , 13 , 20 , 21 ] and plant extracts [ 8 , 9 , 14 , 23 ]. Consequently, the aim of our study was to assess complex phytobiotic feed additives (CPFA) and their combined effect on the productivity, meat performance and blood picture of broiler chickens.…”

Management and control of coccidiosis in poultry — A review

“…However, coccidiosis in chickens can be prevented over time by rotation strategies that use both medicines and vaccines in succeeding flocks [ 56 ]. As genetic technology progresses, vaccines containing genes encoding immunomodulatory polypeptides will be developed [ 57 ].…”