Early (in-ovo) administration of probiotics to promote growth in broiler chicken

Early (in-ovo) administration of probiotics to promote growth in broiler chicken

Summary

Increasing concerns over antibiotic use in food animals and the emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens resulted in the U.S Food and Drug Administration directive curbing the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in poultry production. This has led to an urgent need for safe and natural alternatives to AGPs in promoting poultry health and performance. In this regard, several researchers have demonstrated the efficacy of probiotic supplementation to day-old chicks in improving performance in market birds. However, the period of embryonic growth and immediate post-hatch development account for almost 50% of the productive life of modern broilers. Furthermore, this developmental period is critical to attaining quality broiler performance at marketing.  Therefore, in-ovo probiotic administration would provide for an effective means to influence embryogenesis, post-hatch growth, performance and health in chicken. Through this research will provide an economical, safe and practical alternative to AGPs that can promote embryonic growth. Further, it is anticipated that the embryonic growth will translate into increased growth in broiler chickens, better disease prevention and improved economic opportunities for the poultry industry.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Even though we were not able to start the research trial, the overall objective of the study is to promote growth, health and performance in broiler chicken through the early administration of probiotics.  The specific objective includes:

1. To investigate the efficacy of in-ovo supplementation of probiotics on growth and performance in broiler chicken. We will evaluate the probiotic effect on (a) broiler hatchability b) growth performance (embryonic and post-hatch), (b) organ weights, abdominal fat, serum lipids and (c) intestinal histomorphology.

Accomplishments/Milestones

During this reporting period we have characterized the three probiotic cultures to be used in the study. At this time, whole genome sequencing for Lactobacillus delbreuckii sub sp. bulgaricus NRRL-B-548, L. paracasei DUP-13076, and L. rhamnosus NRRL-B-442 have been completed and de novo assembly is currently under progress. Further, we have recently obtained approval for the animal work from the UConn IACUC committee. We expect to start our animal trial by the end of January 2017.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The administration of sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics as growth promoters in food animals including chickens can lead to antibiotic resistance in humans and animals. Further, presence of antibiotic residues in poultry and meat products can also be deleterious to humans. This increased concern over antibiotic resistance led to the FDA directive that curbed the use of antibiotics in food animals. Therefore, the poultry industry is facing a great challenge to maintain production performance of birds due to increased feed costs and restricted antimicrobial use in feed. Traditionally probiotics have been administered in feed or water to day old chicks to improve performance and market weight in broiler chicken. However, in modern broilers, embryonic and immediate post-hatch development period represents almost 50% of their productive life. Therefore, early in-ovo administration of probiotics would provide for an effective means to not only influence embryonic growth but also the post-hatch growth, performance and health of chicken.

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