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Natural solutions against Salmonella in poultry: Prepare for battle!
Salmonella infections in poultry are a problem for consumers, as Salmonella-contaminated animal products pose a serious risk to human health. Since the use of antibiotics needs to be reduced to maintain their effectiveness, control of Salmonella in poultry requires alternative solutions. This article shows how organic acids and phytomolecules can help combat this complex disease. Salmonellosis: what it is, how it works and why it is a problem Salmonellosis is a zoonosis that can be easily transferred from animals to people. The transfer can occur in different ways: - Direct contact with an infected animal. - Handling or consuming contaminated animal products, such as eggs or raw pork, turkey, and chicken. - Contact with infected vectors (insects or domestic animals) or contaminated equipment. Frozen or raw chicken products, as well as eggs, are the most common means of transmission of Salmonella infections of animal origin in humans. The following graph shows a clear relationship between the occurrence of Salmonella in laying hen flocks and the occurrence of the disease in humans: Figure 1. [...]
Innovative nutritional specialties for poultry: butyrate and its benefits
For many years, the intestinal health of broilers was supported and preserved by the use of antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs), antibiotic substances that, added to the feed in certain amounts, have subtherapeutic effects that favor animals’ productive performance. In 2006, the European Union banned the use of these substances as a precautionary measure to prevent AGPs from increasing antimicrobial resistance in bacteria and their subsequent transmission to humans. It is very likely that intestinal health problems in chickens were partially masked by the routine use of AGPs. Since their ban in Europe, alternative strategies have been sought to control the intestinal health of birds. These research efforts have revealed the complexity of the intestinal ecosystem. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have been widely used as feed additives in recent years. SCFAs are a group of molecules that contain from one to seven carbon atoms and that exist as straight or branched chain compounds. Among them, acetic, propionic and butyric acid are the predominant forms. Butyric acid also has multiple other health-promoting effects, such as mediating the immune response, inhibiting the growth of harmful [...]
Early feeding in chicks: how to implement it
The “hatching window” represents the 24-48 hour period during which the eggs hatch. The newly hatched chicks remain in the incubator until all of them have hatched, after which they undergo routine treatments such as selection, vaccination, sexing and grading, before being transported to the farm. Depending on the length of the hatching window, routine procedures and transport to the farm, the chickens can remain under fasting conditions for a period that could reach, according to legislation (EC No 1/2005), up to a maximum of 72 hours. Chicks need to learn to consume feed as soon as possible to allow their digestive system to undergo a rapid anatomical and physiological transformation, as well as help the development of the immune system. They also need to start consuming water in a short time to compensate for the dehydration they experience from hatching to their arrival at the farm, thus also favoring the consumption and digestibility of the feed. Fasted chicks are more susceptible to pathogens, lose weight easily, critical tissue development and survival can be compromised, and those that survive often exhibit stunted growth, [...]
The main predisposing factors for necrotic enteritis in broilers and the use of probiotics as a new strategy to prevent the disease
Necrotic enteritis (NE) is one of the most common and, at the same time, the most economically devastating diseases of broiler flocks. NE is an infectious disease caused by Clostridium perfringens species, a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium found in soil, litter, dust and, at low levels, in the healthy gut of birds. C. perfringens causes disease when it converts from a non-producer to a toxin producer; in fact, NE is caused by the species that synthesizes the NetB toxin, which is responsible for the formation of necrotic lesions in the intestine. Although NetB toxin-producing strains of C. perfringens have been confirmed to be the ultimate cause of NE in chickens, it appears that a simple infection is not sufficient to trigger the disease. Predisposing or risk factors are necessary to create a favorable environment for the proliferation of the pathogen. The classic clinical form of necrotic enteritis is characterized by a sudden increase in mortality of the birds, up to 50%, often without any visible or warning signs, although wet litter can be an indicator of the disease. The subclinical form of the infection [...]
Bioacoustics analysis for the detection of animal welfare in chicks fed with Licuicel Complex
Bioacoustics is the study of the production, transmission and reception of sounds emitted by animals. Most animal welfare studies aim to reduce potential negative experiences from the farm environment that could threaten animal health by allowing improvements to be made to environmental factors such as light, noises, flock density, facilities, disease prevention, to define all those stress factors that could negatively affect animal welfare. One of the most relevant and first stress factors to which newborn broilers are subjected is the prolonged fasting caused by the routine practices to which they are subjected in the hatcheries before reaching their destination in the farms. Prolonged deprivation of water and feed has long-term negative effects on the health and behavior of the chick, affecting its growth and the correct functional development of the gastrointestinal system. The objective of this preliminary study is to simulate fasting during the first two days of life (48 hours) of newborn chicks in a control group without early feeding and a second group administered a complementary gel feed, Licuicel® Complex, to assess the improvement in the health and welfare of the [...]
CEALVET receives the seal of innovative SME for its projects in Development
In 2021, Cealvet is awarded the Innovative SME seal by the Ministry of Science and Innovation thanks to the Eurostars 2020 R&D project: "Development of new integrated technologies against multi-resistant pathogens in broilers" together with its project partners ADM Biopolis and Pancosma. Cealvet, through the development, research and marketing of its own products and distribution of high-quality products, is committed to innovation and new technologies as the true engines to improve the quality of life and animal welfare, maximizing their growth and productive performance. The common objective of the project is to study and investigate new solutions to combat the main pathogens that annually cause serious economic losses in the poultry industry. In this project, three partners (ADM Biopolis and Pancosma) share their knowledge and experience to contribute to the improvement of human and animal health, promoting research that allows determining the most optimal bacterial strains, together with the most suitable methods of administration in modern bird strains under intensive production. The Innovative SME seal is granted to CEALVET to strengthen the capacity for innovation and create value in the market in a sustainable [...]
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