Medicinal plants and organic acid – a viable alternative to antibiotic growth promoters
Take Home Message: Broiler growth and feed conversion efficiency are improved when medicinal plants or organic acids are added to the diet, although inclusion rates above 450g/t may be required to produce the same result as in-feed antibiotics.
Supplementing Ross broilers with antibiotics, medicinal plants or organic acids significantly improved body weight, average daily gain and feed:gain ratio during the first 42 days, compared to birds fed an unsupplemented ration.
And the results from the trial also suggest that a higher level of medicinal plants and organic acid should be used to detect an accurate influence of the antibiotic alternatives on growth performance of broilers.
So said Newcastle University’s Peter Rowlinson, part of a team of UK and Iranian scientists that carried out the research, when he presented its findings to delegates at the British Society of Animal Science’s annual conference.
“The prophylactic use of antibiotic, as growth promoters, in animal feeds has made intensive farming possible and improved feed conversion. In the presence of low levels of an antibiotic, resistant microbes survive and grow, which produces an antibiotic-resistant population. Consequently, the use of antibiotic for broilers has been limited,” he said.
“A number of studies on alternative products that can aid promotion of growth, improved feed utilisation, and maintenance of gut health have been completed. And herbs and organic acids have received an increased attention as an alternative to antibiotics
“So the aim of our research was to evaluate the efficiency of alternative antibiotic growth promoters on Ross broiler performance,” added Dr Rowlinson, explaining the rationale behind the team’s work.
A total of 240 Ross male broiler chicks were fed four dietary treatments: a control diet based on corn and soybean meal without supplementation; the control diet plus and antibiotic (virigniamycin, 15ppm); the control diet plus medicinal plants (450g/t); and the control diet plus organic acids (propionic, Formycine; 450g/t).
The performance traits measured were body weight, average daily weight gain, average daily feed intake, feed to gain ration (or feed conversion ratio). The traits were measured for individual chicks in the experiments.
“Supplementation with virigniamycin, medicinal plants or organic acids significantly improved body weight gain, daily gain and feed:gain during the first 42 days compared with the Control” said Dr Rowlinson. “Values for the medicinal plants or organic acids were lower than that for the antibiotic treatment, and higher levels of inclusion of these alternative products may be justified”.
To view proceedings of all summaries presented at the Annual Conference 2009 http://www.bsas.org.uk/Publications/Annual_Conference_Proceedings/ To view all Powerpoint presentations http://www.bsas.org.uk/Members_Area/ For further information contact: BSAS on 0131 445 4508 or bsas@sac.ac.uk
