USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation have announced the completion of a funded research project at USDA’s Agricultural Research Services and University of Georgia that resulted in new findings on poultry probiotic research. The project is part of the association’s comprehensive research program encompassing all phases of poultry and egg production and processing.
The researchers, led by Dr. Nelson Cox and Dr. Brian Oakley at the poultry microbiological safety research unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service and Dr. Samuel Aggrey and Dr. Stephen Collett, poultry diagnostic research center, University of Georgia, worked to identify which microbial species in the guts of chickens influence feed efficiency.
The researchers used intestinal microbes from a line of broilers selected for high feed efficiency and microbes from a line of broilers selected for low feed efficiency to inoculate newly hatched broiler chicks. Although the origin of the intestinal microbes was not a significant factor they found that chicks inoculated at hatch with the intestinal microbes had significantly higher growth rates and feed efficiency than those that were not inoculated. The researchers plan to continue the tests to determine what mechanisms are driving the observed differences, which could lead to higher overall feed efficiency rates and lower food costs.These microbes will be further characterized for use as probiotics.
For a detailed summary, click on the research.
