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Supporting poultry gut health with microbial solutions: new research presented at the XXII Congress of the World Veterinary Poultry Association
We are pleased to announce our sponsorship of the XXII Congress of the World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA). As a leading advocate for microbial-based solutions in the poultry industry, Lallemand’s technical poultry team will be attending the event to present two new studies. This highly anticipated gathering of global experts and scientists offers valuable opportunities to exchange information about the latest advances in poultry veterinary science, encompassing a wide range of key topics within the field.
We are thrilled to support this year’s Congress of the WVPA and present our latest research findings. We are demonstrating that our microbial-based solutions, namely probiotics and competitive exclusion products, help harness the power of the birds’ microbiota and have the potential to support poultry gut health and immunity in both broilers and layers. They are readily available technical tools to help the poultry industry continue to grow in a sustainable manner.
Mitigating gut inflammation consequences in layers
Gut inflammation is a reality in poultry farming. It often goes unnoticed at first but can turn into reduced performance in the long run.
Lallemand’s R&D team conducted a study including an inflammatory challenge in laying hens with the objectives:
- To investigate the consequences of gut inflammation on laying performances
- To evaluate the potential of the probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici CNCM I-4622 (BACTOCELL) to mitigate the negative effect associated with the inflammatory trigger on egg production (Barbé et al., 2023).
- Results showed the locally induced inflammatory challenge drastically degraded all laying performance criteria, including feed intake, exported egg mass, laying rate, and FCR, as well as negatively affected egg quality.
- Moreover, this study demonstrated that fecal calprotectin levels can be used as a non-invasive biomarker of acute intestinal inflammation in birds.
- When the layers were fed the probiotic bacteria, they experienced quicker performance recovery and improved egg quality parameters following the induced inflammation. Gut health was also more quickly restored as indicated by lower levels of fecal calprotectin.
Preserving performance and gut integrity during broiler vaccination
Since coccidiosis remains a major threat in poultry production, live coccidiosis vaccines are gaining ground. However, numerous publications reported vaccination can have negative impacts on zootechnical performance. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the early application of a competitive exclusion product (AVIGUARD) to mitigate the negative effect of a coccidiosis vaccine on broiler performance (Chevaux et al., 2023).
The study confirmed vaccination impaired growth performance as measured by body weight at days 28 and 35, feed conversion rate, and average daily gain.
- The early application of the competitive exclusion solution AVIGUARD allowed broilers to maintain zootechnical performance after vaccination against coccidiosis.
- In addition, the treatment minimized the risk of intestinal lesions induced by coccidiosis in vaccinated birds, which is a known side effect of the vaccination.
The authors of the publication concluded this study presents an interesting strategy to mitigate some of the negative effects reported to be associated with live cocci vaccines. Moreover, it indicated the competitive exclusion solution did not alter the mode of action of the live vaccine, making it compatible with the coccidiosis vaccine.
Our participation at the XXII Congress of the WVPA underscores our commitment to helping our partners and farmers sustainably feed a growing global population through improved animal performance and well-being with a strong research and innovation focus.
REFERENCES
- Barbe F., Richard E., Andre S., Chevaux E., Ligabue M., Castex M., Sacy A. 2023. Evaluation of an acute intestinal inflammation challenge to Pediococcus acidilactici CNCM I-4622 supplemented laying hens’ gut health and egg production. XXIInd Congress of the World Veterinary Poultry Association, Verona, Italy.
- Chevaux E., Barbe F., Pain V., Castex M., Ligabue M., Sacy A. 2023. Competitive exclusion improves the performance of broilers vaccinated against coccidiosis. XXIInd Congress of the World Veterinary Poultry Association, Verona, Italy.
Published Sep 6, 2023 | Updated Sep 19, 2023