How to reduce Antibiotic usage in poultry farms.?

 How to reduce Antibiotic usage in poultry farms.?

Acidifiers and probiotics are the solution?

Reduce the acidity (pH) of water and Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and use Probiotics will help us?

 

First of all - What causes diseases in chickens?

Because of bacteria?? Although it is a viral infection, everyone knows that the secondary bacterial infection that occurs later causes the disease to get worse ...So the main culprit is bacteria. But the time is up to blame all the bacteria. There are two types of bacteria, one is pathogenic, the other is probiotics that help digestion and inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. There are two types of bacteria in the GIT of chickens. Non-pathogenic, first settled in the GIT, they aid digestion, prevent intestinal ulcers, protect the intestinal wall, and have many other benefits...These are called probiotics.

The second group is pathogens, which may have come from the outside or may have increased exponentially in the GIT, which was already an inhabitant of GIT. Probiotics are now being added to the diet to keep the number of pathogenic bacteria at low and to aid digestion. An important difference between the two bacteria is that pathogens need an environment with a pH (acidity) above 7 and a beneficial bacteria with a pH (acidity) below 7 to grow.

Therefore, the natural pH of the GIT is below 7 by birth itself. Contaminated water can increase the pH of GIT (gastrointestinal tract ) through drinking and also feed by feeding. Pathogens also usually enter the GIT through water and food. The natural pH of water is 6-7 but water with pH below  7 is nowhere to be found common, Even low levels of pollution can cause water to rise above 7 pH. Giving this water to the chickens will accelerate the growth of pathogenic bacteria.

What is being done on poultry farms to overcome this??

The pH of the water needs to be reduced.

Reducing the pH of water has many benefits, as germs cannot grow or cause disease wherever they come from, and beneficial probiotics grow more and they can help digestion, protect the intestinal wall, and prevent the growth of pathogens. Then it was realized that reducing the pH of the water is essential.

What can be done for this??

In the early days, farmers used to add vinegar powder to the water but, Now the exact products are available in the market to reduce the pH of water. Organic acids such as citric acid, fumaric acid, formic acid, and butyric acid, acids commonly found in dairy products, and fruits such as oranges, and in the GIT of chickens themselves, are commonly used in these type of products and added in drinking water to reduce the pH level. Depending on the composition of the product, 100-200 ml per 1,000 liters of water can be added regularly or 3 days a week. In addition, probiotics can be given to reduce the risk of intestinal disease, thereby minimizing the use of antibiotics on farms.

Farmers began to move away from the practice of antibiotic treatment to the use of acidifiers and probiotics. Instead of using antibiotics after the onset of the disease, however, it must be said that this practice has not yet become so popular in many poultry farm areas.it needs more extension work from poultry experts.

One thing we should be taking care of while using probiotics is, we should not use sanitizers such as bleaching powder or any other sanitizers when using probiotics. All sanitizers, such as chlorine, Triple salts, QAC  kill beneficial bacteria, and pathogenic bacteria. We still need to work harder to boost farmers' confidence in the idea of ​​acidifiers and probiotics instead of sanitizers ...We can continue to strive for a better tomorrow with very few antibiotics being used

 

Dr. Abdul Rauoof P.