Lallemand Animal Nutrition first MEA poultry technical meeting

Lallemand Animal Nutrition gathered more than 130 poultry nutrition specialists and professionals in the magical city of Istanbul for its first MEA poultry technical meeting. With participants from the poultry feed industry, academia and veterinarians from all around Turkey — as well as from various poultry-producing regions in the Middle East — this was a great opportunity for networking and discussing the potential of microbial-based solutions for poultry nutrition and management. The two pillars of poultry gut health management that were discussed during the day were 1) best biosecurity practices and 2) gut microbial management through nutrition.

Experiences were shared in different areas. Dr H. C. Chin, poultry expert from Singapore, reviewed the current poultry disease challenges and biosecurity practices in SouthEast Asian countries. He stressed the importance of taking a holistic approach to poultry flock biosecurity management. Such an approach includes physical barriers, biological barriers such as vaccinations, probiotics and prebiotics, and pharmacological controls. Chin concluded that, within the next decade, poultry production in Asia will have to get rid of antibiotic growth promotors (AGPs). Then, the main focus will be on effective biosecurity measures, vaccination and optimal nutrition.

Local poultry expert, Professor Ceylan Necmettin from the Animal Science Department of the Ankara Faculty of Agriculture, gave a lecture on the control of pathogens through nutrition and competitive exclusion. He demonstrated the cost of gut problems and pathogens is higher than expected in poultry farms. Nutritional recommendations to safeguard the gut functions of chickens included:

• Avoiding excess or imbalanced protein
• Reducing non-starch polysaccharides, which can be a source of pathogen growth
• Evaluating types of fiber, feed form, and particle size, which are efficient ways to control pathogen growth by stimulating gizzard activity as well as increasing beneficial bacteria fermentation
• Assessing ingredient quality

Professor Necmettin then showed how probiotics are able to inhibit the attachment of pathogenic bacteria to gut epithelial cells through competitive exclusion. He concluded certain probiotics can be helpful for healthy gut development in poultry.

Technical experts from Lallemand Animal Nutrition shared their knowledge and highlighted how microbial solutions — such as validated probiotic strains, yeast derivatives, and competitive exclusion solutions — represent efficient natural solutions to favor gut balance and optimize gut functions. Microbial solutions can also help control foodborne pathogens and the microbial environment of poultry housing. The Lallemand poultry portfolio targets all poultry species and addresses the full production cycle, from day-old chicks to broilers and laying hens.

The meeting was also an opportunity to showcase Lallemand’s expertise in the food, beverage, pet food, plant care, and pharmaceutical industries.