How to avoid antibiotics use in broilers

General meat consumer preferences keep shifting, with the trend expected to continue over the coming years.

More consumers are leaning towards chickens raised with low or no antibiotics, as they are leaner, safer and less associated with antimicrobial residues.

This means that every poultry meat farmer must be able to develop a better understanding of how poultry disease outbreaks can be predicted and ultimately contained without using antibiotics.

This calls for good biosecurity and prudent animal health practices in reducing and managing disease outbreaks on our farms.

Antibiotics are used in food animals (cattle, poultry, and swine) for several reasons, with various benefits to both animal health and food production.

They are administered to treat sick animals, thus reducing suffering and mortality.

In low doses, antibiotics are used to improve feed efficiency and promote faster growth.

Antibiotics work by slowing down/inhibiting the growth of microorganisms, whose effects are detrimental to poultry.

The overuse of medicines in farm animals accelerates the threat of antimicrobial resistance worldwide.

Antibacterial overuse promotes the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (superbugs), which spread to humans through the consumption of meat or animal products.

Antibiotic resistance in humans and or animals leads to longer illness durations and more hospitalisations, leading to higher medical costs.

So, is it possible to grow broiler chickens without the use of antibiotics?

Cleaning and disinfecting your poultry house is one way of keeping your flocks healthy.

Old litter or manure in a dirty farm can contain up to 500 million bacteria per gram. By washing the unit with water only, one will reduce the bacterial load to 200 million per 10 square centimetres.

Applying water and ineffective disinfectants, on the other hand, reduces the bacterial load to five million per 10 sq cm.

By combining a detergent (soap) and an effective disinfectant, one can reduce the bacterial load to 500-6000 per 10sq cm, while the use of a broad-spectrum disinfectant and fumigation kills almost all bacteria on the surfaces of buildings and equipment.

This illustrates the importance of thorough cleaning and disinfection of a chicken house before the arrival of the next flock.

It is important to control rodents and pests within and around the farm as they may be carriers of disease-causing organisms.

Ensure that the chicken houses are wild bird proof through proper roofing, inspecting the flock regularly and isolating and culling any chicken that shows signs of illness.

Also, have a good and effective litter management programme. Wet litter combined with warm in-house temperatures provides a good growth environment for most disease-causing organisms. Keep your litter dry and friable throughout the production.

Use the one age/one site (all in/all out) programme. It is advisable to only keep one age of flocks on one site.

This is because management, sanitation, and vaccination programmes become more difficult and less effective on a multi-age site.

Poultry workers should also always wear clean, disinfected footwear and clothing. When visiting birds of different ages, start with the youngest flock and always visit sick flocks last, irrespective of their age.

Do not permit the introduction of materials and/ or equipment into the poultry house without thorough cleaning and disinfection, as these items can be carriers of disease-causing organisms.

A good quality feed, which is optimally balanced and adequately supplied, is paramount for a good start.

Provide clean and fresh potable water all the time, which is chlorinated.

The types of vaccines required and the methods of administration must be fully understood before formulating a programme.

The principal objective of any vaccination programme is to protect birds from clinical and subclinical disease.

To achieve an effective vaccination, one must aim at efficiently delivering a full dose of vaccine to each bird in the group at the same time and day.

This way, one is likely to generate the best protection with minimum effect on bird performance. Always consult your local veterinarian for the best vaccination programme.

Dr Messo is the company veterinarian, Kenchic; [e-mail]