Use of Natural Growth Promoter in Poultry Feed

Pashu Sandesh, 12th June 2020

Dr Nethee Deori¹ and Dr Madhuri S. Lahamge²

Definition :

Natural growth promoter (NGPs) or non-antibiotic growth promoters are commonly regarded as favourable alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in livestock production. Natural growth promoters include predominantly organic acids, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, phytogenics, tannins, feed enzymes and immune stimulants.

Advantages:

The main advantage of NGPs over AGPs is that they not usually bear any risk regarding bacterial resistance or undesired residues in animal products such as meat, milk or eggs. Addition of NGPs to farm feed may have a number of beneficial effects, including:

• The rapid development of  a healthy gut microflora
• Increased growth performance
• Stimulation and rapid maturation of the immune system
• Reduced incidence of diarrhoea
• Improved feed efficiency
• Lower mortality rates

Mode of Action:

Acidifiers:

Feed acidifiers are added to the feed to lower the pH of the feed and consequently the gut environment. A lower pH has the potential to inhibit or partly restrict the growth of pathogenic intestinal microbes.

Probiotics:

Probiotics is a live microbial feed supplement which beneficially affects the host animal by improving its intestinal microbial balance resulting in a better performance in terms of growth or feed efficiency. Commonly included probiotics preparations in various combinations are Bacteria- Strains of Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc and Streptococcus. Fungi: Strains of Aspergillus Yeast: Strains of Saccharomyces.

Prebiotics:

These are non-digestible feed ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth of gut bacteria. Among the known prebiotics, mannan- oligosaccharides (MOS), fructooligosaccharides (FOS).

Synbiotics:

Combined administration of probiotics and prebiotics, referred to as synbiotics, is supposed to cause synergistic effects in terms of gut health and performance.

Phytogenics:

Phytogenics are derived from herbs, spices or aromatic plants and have shown antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant or sedative properties. They are known for their appetizing effects since they increase the palatability of the feed and stimulate endogenous digestive enzyme.

Enzymes:

Enzymes are proteins that facilitate specific chemical reactions. Different feed enzymes such as carbohydrates, phytases or proteases, can be included in feeds to improve the utilization of energy and nutrients or to degrade several undesired components.

Immuno-stimulants:

Stimulate anti-body production, cell-mediated immunity and general resistance to disease. Examples: Tetrahydrophenyllimidazole, immogen, levamisole, etc.

      Dr Nethee Deori¹ and Dr Madhuri S. Lahamge²

1. Assistant Professor, Department of Livestock Farm Complex, Faculty of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (UP)

2. Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinical Complex, Apollo College of Veterinary Medicine, Jaipur (Rajasthan)