This is one of the most common questions newcomers in poultry farming ask and it is a very important one. One thing you should know is that your birds must not be overcrowded to prevent the spread of diseases. In an overcrowded pen, droppings quickly pile up and stink, exposing the birds and farm workers to diseases. It can also result to problems like pecking and slow growth.

On the other hand, giving too much space for the birds doesn’t make economic sense because you’re wasting money. A pen that’ll house 150 birds should not be used to house 120 birds. The number of birds living in a given area is called the stocking density. So what is the optimum stocking density for birds?

Well, it depends on the type of bird (layers or broilers etc), age of the birds and climate (hot or cool periods, humidity). The advice here is suitable for those who use open-sided, deep-litter, naturally ventilated houses in tropical climates like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya etc. Below are the steps to follow for finding broiler stocking density:

1.    Determine the final weight of your bird (that is, the weight they’ll attain before you sell them)

2.    If the final weight is below 3kg, use a stocking density of 20-25kg/m2. E.g. assuming you plan selling your broilers when they attain 2.5kg, you’ll need 8-10 birds per square meter (i.e. 20kg/m2 ÷ 2.5kg=8 birds per m2. 25kg/m2 ÷ 2.5=10 birds/m2). So if your pen measures 20m x 40m, the area is 20m x 40m = 800m2. So you can raise 6400-8000 broilers in the pen.

3.    At the hottest times of the year, or at final weight above 3kg, reduce stocking density to 16-18kg/m2. Here let’s say you’re raising Christmas or Easter broilers that will weigh 4.5kg. At this stocking density, you’ll need 3.5-4 birds per square meter (16 kg/m2 ÷ 4.5kg = 3.5 birds per m2 approximately. 18 kg/m2 ÷ 4.5kg = 4 birds/m2). An 800m2 pen will accommodate 2800-3200 broilers.

Keeping broilers beyond 7-8 weeks is expensive and often the difference between profit and loss. Exception is during festive periods when people prefer bigger broilers and are willing to pay high price for them.

For laying hens, you can use a stocking density of 13.6 birds per square meter.

Note that when the birds are still young, you don’t give them access to the whole pen. This will prevent the birds from running around which will waste energy that would have been directed towards growth or egg production. Feed cost can be enormous if you ignore this. So what you do is to restrict them to one part of the pen with plywood boards. Then, gradually expand the area as they grow.

Many Christians sing evil songs like ‘One Corner’, ‘Panti no n’ilo’ and other immoral songs from Flavor, Davido, Wizkid etc. This short article is meant to reveal the dangers in immoral songs and dirty jokes - two common practices among many ‘Christians’.

1. Evil Thoughts and Desires are Sinful: Ephesians 4:17 - I warn you, do not continue to live like the heathens, whose thoughts are worthless and whose minds are in the dark…

James 1: 14-15 -But people are tempted when they are drawn away and trapped by their own evil desires. 15. Then their evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

2. Evil Thoughts and Desires will Make You to Crack Dirty Jokes and Sing Immoral Songs:

Luke 6:45: A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

3. The Evil Things you Say or Do Can Lead Others to Sin. And if You Lead Others to Sin, You’ll be Thrown into Hell Fire on the Last Day:
Matthew 13:41 - 42 -Theson of man will send out of his kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things. 42. And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and grind their teeth.
 
Luke 17:1 - Things that make people fall into sin are bound to happen, but how terrible for the one who makes them happen! 2. It would be better for him if a large millstone were tied round his neck and he were thrown into the sea...3. So watch what you do!

4. You May Claim to be a Christian (Like Christ), but if what you do or Say does not Lead people to Christ, you are not a Christian:

Mathew 12:30 - Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.

5. God Strongly Condemn Dirty Words - be it Dirty Jokes or Dirty Songs:

Ephesians 4:29 - Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words , the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.

Ephesians 5:4 -Nor is it fitting for you to use language which is obscene, profane or vulgar. Rather you should give thanks to God.

Note:
Obscene words means words that are offensive because they are connected to sex.
Vulgar words are words that are likely to cause offense.
Profane words are words that show no respect for God or holy things.

Colossians 3:8 - No insults or obscene talk must ever come fromour lips.

Jame 1:26 - Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourselves.

Mathew 12:36 - You canbe sure that on the judgment day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken. 37. Your words will be used to judge you - to declare you either innocent or guilty.

Conclusion
Will you allow the pleasure of evil songs or dirty jokes to lead you to hell fire for eternity? Do you know that so many musicians, celebrities, actors and actresses are instruments the devil is using to destroy moral values? Escape for your life. Be born again. Deny sin and sinful friends and follow Jesus.

To successfully grow as a Christians, you must join a bible-practicing church where experienced Christians will teach you the bible in a way you’ll understand. You can’t get such teachings on Sunday services. Rather you need to ask your pastor/priest and he’ll tell you when they do bible study. If you’re an Anglican, join EFAC fellowship and you’ll get the right teachings there. Scripture Union is also a good fellowship to join.

Thanks for reading. Remain bless.

Daniel 12:2-3:
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

You are free to photocopy this and share it to your friends.

I have always read that unripe tomato is poisonous because it contains a glycoalkaloid called tomatine. But I’m quite surprise when I came across a research that claims that tomatine may help cure cancer. Some people also eat tomato leaves as vegetables! I guess I’ll follow suit. Below is the research:

Quote:Title: Tomatine-Containing Green Tomato Extracts Inhibit Growth of Human Breast, Colon, Liver, and Stomach Cancer Cells


Interpretive Summary: In a collaborative study with colleagues at Korean universities, we found that tomatine-rich green tomato extracts and pure tomatine inhibited the growth of cancer cells. These findings extend related observations on the anticarcinogenic potential and other beneficial effects of the tomato glycoalkaloid tomatine and suggest that consumers may benefit by not only eating high-lycopene red tomatoes, but also high-tomatine green tomatoes. Our results also suggest the need to create high-tomatine red tomatoes as well as tomatine-containing potatoes. Such tomatine containing potatoes are currently being developed by John Bamberg associated with the USDA/ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit, Madison, Wisconsin.

Technical Abstract: Tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) synthesize the glycoalkaloids dehydrotomatine and a–tomatine, possibly as a defense against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and insects. We investigated six green and three red tomato extracts for their ability to induce cell death in human cancer and normal cells using a microculture tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Compared to untreated controls, the high-tomatine green tomato extracts strongly inhibited the following human cancer cell lines: breast (MCF-7), colon (HT-29), gastric (AGS), hepatoma (liver) (HepG2), as well as normal human liver cells (Chang). There was little inhibition of the cells by the three low-tomatine red tomato extracts. We also evaluated cell death induced by the pure glycoalkaloids dehydrotomatine and a-tomatine isolated from green tomatoes and characterized by HPLC, GC, and GC/MS, as well as their respective aglycones tomatidenol and tomatidine. a-Tomatine was highly effective in inhibiting all the cell lines. Dehydrotomatine, tomatidenol, and tomatidine had little, if any effect on cell inhibition. The results show that the susceptibility to destruction varies with the nature of the alkaloid and plant extract and the type of cancer cell. These findings extend related observations on the anticarcinogenic potential of glycoalkaloids and suggest that consumers may benefit by not only eating high-lycopene red tomatoes, but also green tomatoes containing glycoalkaloids. Possible mechanisms of the anticarcinogenic and other beneficial effects and the significance of the cited observations for breeding improved tomatoes and for the human diet are discussed.

Citation: Friedman, M., Levin, C.E., Lee, S., Hyung-Jeong, K., Lee, I., Byun, J., Kosukue, N. 2009. Tomatine-Containing Green Tomato Extracts Inhibit Growth of Human Breast, Colon, Liver, and Stomach Cancer Cells. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 57:5727-5733.

I got this from a secondary school agric text book.

Beef Cattle Ration:
Maize: 24 kg
Groundnut Cake: 11 kg
Brewers Dry Grain: 59 kg
Bloodmeal: 2.5 kg
Dicalcium Phosphate: 3kg
Salt: 0.5kg
TOTAL: 100kg

Dairy Cattle Ration:
Maize: 33.5 kg
Groundnut Cake: 17 kg
Brewers Dry Grain: 42 kg
Bloodmeal: 2.5 kg
Dicalcium Phosphate: 3kg
Salt: 2kg
TOTAL: 100kg

6th May 2015

Number and Type of Birds: 607 brown day old chicks from Crown Hatchery, Issele-Ukwu, Delta State.

Mortality so Far: Total of 22 chicks died. 5 died due to DOC screening test at the lab. 1 was found dead on arrival. 6 died from avoidable causes. Others died due to respiratory problem – they find it difficult to breath.


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Cost/Chick: N180.

DOC Screening: It was done on day 2 and the cost was N7000. The test covers serological test and antibiotic sensitivity test (AST).  Through serological test you’ll get a vaccination plan suitable for your birds. The later (AST) was for Staphylococcus and Candida spp. It helps you to know the best antibiotics that will work against those bacteria. In my case, Gentamicin and penicillin & streptomycin were effective while Oxytetracycline, Furaltadone, Collistin etc were not effective. If you want to see the lab test result, view it here:  AnimalCare Lab Test.

Lab Location: ANIMAL CARE® TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION (POULTRY DISEASES DIAGNOSIS AND AQUACULTURE LAB), Asaba, Delta State.

   

Was DOC Screening Useful? Yes! They found out that the chicks have low resistance against Newcastle and I have to vaccinate them fast! They recommended giving gumboro on day 5, followed by Immucox on day 6 and lasota on day 7. But due to some reasons, I have to give the vaccines on days 6,7 and 8 respectively. Most of the chicks that died did so before and some days after these vaccinations, meaning that if I had followed the ‘normal vaccination plan’, there would have been more death.

See: How to Administer Coccidiosis Vaccine.

Brooding: We used kerosene stoves and lamps, but next time I plan investing in gas brooders that cost about N13k. With gas brooders, brooding will be easier and even cheaper, free of clumsiness. For bedding, I used rice hull and covered it with nylon for the first few days (I did this to prevent the chicks from eating the bedding). When I uncovered it, I noticed some molds on the rice hull. I have to remove the affected spots because mold can be dangerous to chicks. I even suspect it could have contributed to the respiratory problem the birds suffered from. Next time I won’t be covering the bedding.

Feeding: We use top feed and feed them ad libitum (i.e. feed is always available).

Vitamins: When I checked how much spent on vitamins for our last batch, I have to buy 1 carton this time. I bought 1 carton of Vitalyte for N14,720. A carton contains 32 satchets.

Merek’s Vaccination: You can see the vaccination plan in the AnimalCare Lab Test. Marek’s vaccination was given on day 25. The vaccine cost N3500 and workmanship N3000.


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It’s been a long time. Here is a summary update:

Mortality so far: 7.1% out of 607 birds. Most were due to diseases, but some were avoidable accidents.

Birds Left: 564

Eggs per day: 16 crates and 15 eggs recently. This is 87.8% laying, though they once reached 89%. Egg production wasn’t constant due to unreliable lighting (not much) and disease signal. Whenever we notice the slightest sign of disease, we give complete dose of a broad spectrum antibiotics (tylodox, conflox, terramyccin etc).

Lasota vaccination: Every 4-6 weeks.

Feed cost from 1-20th week: N113,400 for starter (42 bags) and N218,050 for growers (119 bags).

Drug cost from 1-20th week: N22,500

Vaccination and Debeaking cost from 1-20th week: N66,774.

Vitamin cost from 1-20th week: N13,410.

End of Lay: Towards ending of September 2016. 516 hens made to the end. Each was sold for N1368.6 (i.e. N706,200).

Complete update coming soon.

How much feed do you think a cow will need per day? If you want to store feed through the dry season, how do you know how much feed will be enof for them? Thanks buddies.

Hello all, I'm planning to plant some yam and I know that one major challenge I'll face is weeding. Is there any selective herbicide for yam I can use? By selective I mean a herbicide that will kill the weeds without killing the yam. Thanks.

Which one do you think is better?

Slug and snail are both part of the same creatures called gastropods. Most gastropods live in water. Snail and slugs are the only gastropods that can also be found on land. Both are similar but one obvious difference is that a snail have shell while a slug doesn’t. Because of the absence of shell in slugs, they can squeeze through tight spaces.

Slugs and snails can eat plant leaves, stems and roots, causing massive destruction in an infested farm if not controlled. They are most active at night when the soil is wet. One way to know that snails or slugs are in your farm is to look out for their slimy trails. They are silvery deposits on leaves, stems, and soil.

Using Cigarette and Beer: Put about 50ml beer in plastic cups and add dried tobacco contained in cigarette. Bury the cups so that their tops are flush with ground level. Leave a 3-5m space between each cup. The pests will be attracted by the smell of beer and killed by the nicotine in cigarette. Replace the mixture every 2 days. Prevent rain from diluting the mixture by shielding them with plastic covers supported by and weighed down by stones.

I can’t remember where I got this valuable info. But it was in one science research paper. According to the paper, you can increase yield in a banana/plantain farm by periodically spraying the leaves and bunches with potassium sulphate (K2SO4) and 2ppm Brassinosteroid, a class of plant growth hormone. I hope this might help someone out there.

Precaution: Before you apply any spray on your plants, first test it on few plants and wait for 7 days to see if there is any bad effect. If there is none, you can proceed and spray the rest. But if your plants’ leaves start dying, review your formulation because it may be too concentrated. For example, 10g soap per liter water can kill plants.

Do you know you can save feed cost by formulating your own feed? If you don’t want to go all the way to the scratch to formulate your own feed, you can use concentrates and add to it things like maize, wheat offal or rice bran and soybean meal. Below is an example:

AnimalCare sells a 25kg concentrate feed for layers for N3100. With this concentrate, you can formulate 100kg of feed as follows:

1.    Layers Concentrate: 30kg
2.    Maize: 50kg
3.    Wheat offal/Rice bran (as source of fiber): 20kg

The trick is to find places where you can buy maize and wheat offal/rice bran at cheap prices. You can get them cheap by buying directly from maize farmers and companies that have wheat offal/rice bran as byproducts. Having your own vehicle will save you a lot in transport cost.
 
Note: There are also concentrates for broilers.

Crude oil and gasoline prices are near an all-time high. But don't despair. One scientist has found an alternative source of energy: pig manure.

Yuanhui Zhang, an agricultural engineering professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, has succeeded in turning small batches of hog waste into oil.
[img=8x19]file:///C:\Users\Henry\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif[/img][url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/33001124.html][/url]
The process, called thermochemical conversion, uses heat and pressure to break down carbohydrate materials and turn waste into liquid. The project is still in its infancy.

For now, each half-gallon (two-liter) batch of manure converts to only about 9 ounces (0.26 liter) of oil.
But Zhang believes the conversion process could eventually solve the problem of pollution and odor at modern hog farms, where farmers pay big money to get rid of the waste. And, he says, pig oil could also offer an alternative to petroleum oil.
"If 50 percent of U.S. swine farms adopted this technology, we could see a [U.S.] 1.5-billion-dollar reduction in crude oil imports every year," Zhang said. "And swine producers could see a 10 percent increase in their income—about $10 to $15 per hog."

Oil Crisis
During the oil crisis in the 1970s, U.S. researchers attempted to turn wood sludge and coal into oil. But it proved too costly. When oil prices later fell, the whole idea of turning waste into fuel became less attractive.
"The science is not new, but it has failed because of economics," Zhang said. "If you can buy crude oil at [U.S.] $20 a barrel, why bother with pig oil? It's too expensive."

But with crude oil prices now hovering around U.S. $40 a barrel, pig oil once again seems like an attractive fuel alternative.
Zhang's research team developed a small-scale thermochemical conversion reactor that applies heat and pressure to swine manure. The process breaks the manure's long hydrocarbon chains down into shorter ones. Methane, carbon dioxide, water, and oil are produced as by-products.

"The process we have developed is quite different from most conventional thermochemical conversion processes," said Zhang. "There is no need for the addition of a catalyst, and our process does not require predrying of the manure."
Each conversion takes about 15 minutes, and the process has a strong energy return. "For every one portion of energy in, you get three portions of energy out," Zhang said.
[img=8x19]file:///C:\Users\Henry\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif[/img]
Negative Cost
The researchers converted as much as 70 percent of swine manure volatile solids into oil. About 20 percent of the manure is considered solid; the rest is largely water. Some 90 percent of that solid manure is volatile, or organic. Those volatile solids are the part of the manure that can be converted to oil.
The manure excreted by one pig during its life span on an average hog farm could produce up to 21 gallons (80 liters) of crude oil. A swine farm producing 10,000 market hogs per year could produce 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons (795,000 liters), of crude oil per year.
Simply getting rid of manure is a big business. "It's a negative-cost material to us," Zhang said. "People are willing to pay for you to use it."
Manure has advantages over raw materials, like wood sludge, because the pig has already done most of the work. "It's a very nice material that is easy to process, because it's already been biologically processed by the pigs," Zhang said.
The process could also work with manure from chickens or cows, though it would have to modified. Human waste, which is similar to that of pigs, would, in theory, work well in Zhang's system with little or no modification.
After the conversion, the researchers took the crude oil and further processed it, obtaining refined oil that Zhang says has a heating value similar to that of diesel fuel.

Environmental Benefits
As a renewable energy, pig oil has great environmental benefits. Minerals are preserved in the treatment system, odor is reduced, and the biological oxygen demand of manure is reduced by 70 percent.
"Biological oxygen demand" refers to the fact that, as manure breaks down, the process sucks oxygen from its environment. When manure leeches into a water supply, say due to runoff, it harms aquatic life by decreasing the oxygen available to fish, water plants, and other organisms.
Also, unlike petroleum oil, pig oil uses no additives.
"For me, it's primarily an environmental thing," Zhang said. "We have to look to renewable or alternative energy. We know that eventually we can't keep digging up petroleum oil."
The next step for Zhang's research team is to develop the batch process into what he calls a continuous-mode process at a pilot plant.
"Then, the heat generated from the process can be recycled more efficiently, reducing the operating costs," Zhang said. "Reactor volume can be reduced for the same capacity, which reduces the investment costs. And automated controls can be adapted more readily, which reduces the labor costs."
So should oil companies be worried about Zhang?
"Maybe," he said. "I have no support from the oil companies, that's for sure."

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0701_040702_pigoil.html

If you’re having rat problem in your farm, there is a safe, non-poisonous method you can use to kill them. You’ll need 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Mix them up and place in small plates for the rats to find. When they eat it, the soda will react with stomach acid to produce CO2. There stomach will swell and squash their lungs, suffocating them.

Another method is to use flour and cement. When they eat this one, they’ll feel like drinking water and when they do, the cement will set in their stomach and kill them almost instantly.

Pls I'll like to know how long it takes carrots, cucumber and tomatoes from seed to harvest and how long they will keep fruiting. Thanks.

Good evening evryone. How do I determine the size of a house for a given number of birds?

I planted some tomato seeds and it is 7 days now but no sprouting. How long do I have to wait or have they rotten?

Quote:
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Figure 1. Grape cluster weight at harvest in response to a single fungicide application at full bloom in Concord grapes in Michigan in 2013.
Control of fungal diseases in fruit crops relies on the regular application of fungicides during the growing season, especially during and right after bloom. While fungicides are aimed at fungal pathogens, there may be unintended side effects on the crop such as phytotoxicity to the foliage or a reduction in fruit set.

Negative effects of fungicide applications on fruit set and yield have been reported in studies in apple, cranberry, raspberry and strawberry. In raspberry, the fungicides captan and benomyl reduced pollen germination and drupelet set compared to the untreated control, resulting in significantly fewer drupelets per berry. In peaches and almonds, fungicides reduced pollen germination and pollen tube growth but results varied by fungicide and cultivar. Also, effects were stronger when fungicide residues on stigmas were wet than when dry. In almonds, damage to the stigma was observed as a result of certain fungicide applications.

A number of years ago, we were surprised to find significantly lower yields in Concord grapevines in a trial that had received fungicide applications at bloom compared to untreated vines. We decided therefore to conduct field experiments in which grape flower clusters at full bloom were marked and sprayed directly with fungicides. While the number of berries per cluster was initially higher at fruit set in fungicide-treated plots, up to 40 percent lower cluster weights were observed at harvest (Figure 1) which was correlated with a reduced number of berries per cluster but not weight per berry. We observed this effect two years in a row.

In Australia, poor fruit set in grapes was seen in different grape-growing regions over several seasons and was attributed to the spraying of fungicides at the time of flowering. In field trials, the effect of fungicides applied at bloom on fruit set varied among treatments, grape cultivars and seasons. For instance, iprodione and boscalid slightly reduced pollen viability whereas copper almost completely inhibited pollen germination. It is also possible that fungicides have an indirect effect on fruit set by affecting plant physiology. In a study in France, the fungicides fludioxonil and pyrimethanil, which are commonly used against Botrytis, reduced photosynthesis and affected carbohydrate partitioning in Chardonnay grapes when applied at bloom.

While further study is needed to determine the mechanism by which fungicides reduce fruit set in grapes and how different cultivars are affected, it seems advisable to exercise caution with fungicide sprays during bloom, unless you are not concerned about potential thinning of the crop. If the disease situation and weather allows it, it may be better to apply fungicides just before or after bloom to minimize any potential negative effects on yield.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464)

Quote:Abstract
Smallholder farmers in southern African countries rely primarily on cultural control and hoe weeding to combat weeds, but often times, they are unable to keep up with the weeding requirements of the crop because of its laboriousness, causing them to incur major yield losses. Optimisation of crop planting pattern could help to increase yield and suppress weeds and to reduce the critical period of weed control and the weeding requirements to attain maximum yield. Experiments were carried out in Zimbabwe during two growing seasons to assess the effect of maize density and spatial arrangement on crop yield, growth and seed production of weeds and to determine the critical period for weeding. Planting maize at 60 cm row distance achieved higher yields and better weed suppression than planting at 75 or 90 cm row distance. Increasing crop densities beyond the customary three to four plants m−2 gave modest reductions in weed biomass but also diminished crop yields, probably because of increased competition for water and nutrient resources. Maize planted in narrow rows (60 cm) intercepted more radiation and suffered less yield reduction from delaying hoe weeding than those planted in wider rows (75 or 90 cm), and the duration of the weed-free period required to attain maximum grain yield was 3 weeks shorter in the narrow spacing than that in the 75- and 90-cm row spacings. Weeding was more effective in curtailing weed seed production in the narrow row spatial arrangements than in the wide row planting. The results of these studies show that narrow row spacings may reduce weeding requirements and increase yields.

What are Probiotics? They are microorganisms that are beneficial to animals, including human. So far as an animal is healthy, probiotics will have no harmful effect. But some may be harmful to unhealthy animals. So give probiotics when your animals are healthy and it will prevent a lot of intestinal diseases. There are many types of probiotics. Few of them include bacilus subtilis, bacilus licheniformis, lactic acid-producing strains like Enterococcus, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium etc.

To treat and prevent diseases, farmers have relied heavily on antibiotics for decades. But it seems that this will eventually come to an end because many countries are banning the use of many antibiotics in animal production. This is because of the risk it poise to humans.

What will happen when countries no longer allow antibiotic use in farms? Scientific evidences shows that probiotics, herbs and essential oils will serve as alternatives to antibiotics.

Read: [/url]Antibiotic Resistance: How Herbs and Plant Extracts can Help
How to Make Your Own Probiotic - Lactobacillus Serum
Farm Animals: Antibiotic Withdrawal Period And How It Affects Your Health
[url=http://www.farmersjoint.com/blog/livestock-farming/farm-animals-antibiotic-withdrawal-period-affects-health/]Chicken Health: Avoiding Antibiotic Abuse through Laboratory Tests

Probiotics are very important to newly hatched chicks. Giving probiotics to your day old chick will help prevent dangerous microbes from colonizing their intestine. Antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. So whenever you give antibiotics to animals, follow up with a probiotics when the antibiotic therapy ends. This will prevent bad microbes from colonizing the intestine.

Below is an interesting articles from Thepoultrysite.com

Quote:Role of Probiotics in Poultry Health

A large body of evidence supports the use of probiotics to prevent or mitigate the effects of dysbacteriosis and, specifically, necrotic enteritis. Article by Alfred Blanch, Spain.

The main purpose of including food additives in compound feed for intensive poultry production is to help meet birds’ nutritional needs, with the ultimate goal of optimising production efficiency.

However, it should be noted that this objective is inextricably linked to achieving good health status and ensuring adequate welfare of the birds in question.

Thus, in addition to improving flock husbandry, the supplementation of feed or drinking water with additives plays a crucial role in ensuring flock health and welfare. This systemic action of food additives, which is particularly relevant given the growing trend towards restricting antibiotic use in poultry production, begins with their effects on intestinal health.

But what do we mean by “intestinal health”, and how is this linked to the health status and general welfare of birds? Over 2000 years ago Hippocrates stated that “all diseases begin in the gut”.

In poultry production, good intestinal health is the foundation upon which the general health and welfare of the bird is based. Intestinal health encompasses various elements or components of gastrointestinal function, including optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients, a diverse and stable microbiota, an effective intestinal immune system, a solid intestinal barrier against pathogens and toxins, and a competent neuroendocrine system.

As is well known, the work of each of these elements is not limited to the digestive tract, and their actions extend to the systemic level. Thus, any imbalance in the complex mechanisms that interlink these components of intestinal function increases the risk of systemic diseases, such as immune-mediated, metabolic, and infectious disorders, as well as intestinal diseases.

The use of probiotics
The use of probiotics in poultry diets to promote bird health is currently of particular relevance.
The WHO and FAO (2002) define probiotics as “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. This definition explicitly recognises the positive effect of probiotics on the health of animals to which they are administered.
In poultry, the maintenance of a stable intestinal flora is essential to prevent dysbacteriosis, which may predispose birds to major infectious diseases such as necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens.

The use of probiotics to prevent or mitigate the effects of dysbacteriosis and, in particular, necrotic enteritis, is broadly supported by numerous scientific publications and is widespread in intensive poultry production.


Knap and co-workers (2010) even concluded, based on their studies of chickens in commercial operations, that the probiotic use of spores of B. licheniformis may constitute an alternative to drug treatment for necrotic enteritis, and that this type of probiotic could be useful to prevent infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

The positive effect of certain probiotics on the incidence and severity of necrotic enteritis may also be due, at least in part, to their ability to mitigate the aftermath associated with avian coccidiosis and vaccines containing attenuated coccidia.

Role of probiotics at the systemic level
Regarding the role of probiotics at the systemic level, it should be noted that these types of additives are highly effective in birds that come into contact with immunosuppressive pathogens, such as certain species of Salmonella.

Of particular interest are the findings recently published by Sadeghi and co-workers (2014), which indicate that the addition of certain strains of Bacillus subtilis to the diet of immunocompromised broiler chickens infected with Salmonella enteritidis significantly increases the efficacy of vaccines against Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease virus.

Furthermore, it should be noted that in many cases lameness in chickens is due to bacterial chondronecrosis resulting from the translocation of intestinal pathogens, as reported by the Belgian scientists Falony and Van Immerseel (2015). These findings suggest that the use of probiotics may be an effective prophylactic strategy to prevent this type of lameness.

In the coming years the addition of probiotics to poultry feed will no doubt assume a greater role in the prevention and mitigation of numerous conditions at both the intestinal and systemic levels.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3594/role-of-probiotics-in-poultry-health/

Quote:Poultry production: How probiotics can play a role

Since the importance of a well-balanced gut microflora for adequate health and high performance has been recognised, feeding strategies have been directed to control the microbial GI environment by nutritional means.

A large and diverse range of bacteria are living in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of our animals and most of these bacteria form a symbiotic relationship with the host. The important role of GI microflora in health and disease of animals and humans is increasingly recognized. Nutrition is the most important factor influencing the composition and metabolic activity of the intestinal microflora.

Feeding errors, substantial dietary changes, low-quality feed components and inadequate feed hygiene all compromise the microflora. It should be a goal when formulating diets to favourably influence the microbial community in the gut and to keep up a state called Eubiosis. In this situation, the host and the microflora live together in symbiosis, meaning with mutual benefit.

Probiotics to achieve Eubiosis 
Since the importance of a well-balanced gut microflora for adequate health and high performance has been recognised, feeding strategies have been directed to control the microbial GI environment by nutritional means. Especially, the use of probiotics has been shown to be an effective means of manipulating or managing the composition of the microbial population in the GI tract of animals to achieve or
re-establish the state of Eubiosis.

Intake of probiotics should result in the creation of gut microecology conditions that suppress harmful microorganisms and favour beneficial microorganisms, and ultimately enhance gut health. This is also necessary for a well-functioning and effective digestion of nutrients, resulting in good growth performance. Besides nutrient absorption, the intestine plays an important role as the biggest immune organ of the body. It is hence part of the body’s defense system and represents an important barrier against invading pathogens.

New scientific insights about probiotics 
The scientific community is changing its way of looking at the mode of actions of probiotics. Since probiotics have been commercially available, they have been expected to exert their benefits derived from their ability to multiply, produce certain metabolites and colonize the surface of the intestinal epithelium.

Today (and for the last 10 years), researchers are challenging the “classic” mode of actions of probiotics with novel ones. So far, there is a good bulk of evidence suggesting that some of the effects of probiotics like the anti-inflammatory effect are mediated by fingerprints (structural molecules) rather than by the whole organisms or their ability to colonize the intestine.

In-case probiotics are also partly inactivated in the course of feed processing or antibiotic treatment at therapeutic doses; there are beneficial mechanism that do not depend on live bacteria and which will remain unaltered. As long as the effector molecules within the probiotics remain with the appropriate structure a biological effect should be expected.

Commonly used probiotic bacteria in animal feeding are lactic acid-producing strains like Enterococcus, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are also genera commonly found in the poultry gut. Several scientific studies have shown that they have a beneficial effect on performance, pathogen inhibition, modulation of intestinal microflora and immuno-modulation, especially during critical times in the production cycle when a protective gut microflora is not yet established or a disrupted probiotic application exerts its benefits.

Probiotics to protect newly hatched chicks 
Under normal conditions (i.e. in the wild), animals pick up their microflora from adult animals and from the environment very quickly, but under conditions of modern animal production, things are different. Commercial broiler chicks hatch in extremely clean conditions and don’t have contact with adult animals. Then they are transferred in houses previously cleaned and disinfected. For them, to build up and establish a well-balanced microflora is difficult. During that time, the chicks are not protected against the colonization with pathogenic microbes.

For the chicks, it is crucial to develop a protecting microflora as early and fast as possible, which can be supported by the application of probiotics. Probiotic products can be sprayed onto the chicks already in the hatchery or be applied via the drinking water during the first days of life. They provide conditions in the chicks’ intestines that favour the colonization by beneficial microbes.

Probiotics and antibiotic therapy 
Antibiotics are useful tools to eliminate undesired pathogens. However, they also eliminate a large proportion of the beneficial microflora which needs to be re-established after the antibiotic treatments ends to avoid fast growth of opportunistic pathogens. Antibiotics may eliminate the pathogens, but they often do not sufficiently control inflammation. In many cases of pathogenic invasion, an exaggerated response of the immune system may cause even more damage than the pathogen itself.

Probiotics can help modulate the immune system. It is very common in the field to see the severe inflammation of the intestinal mucosa regardless of the ongoing antibiotic therapy. Intestinal inflammation is related to increased velocity of the intestinal content. As a consequence, feces with increased amount of humidity, gas, excess of indigested feed particles or fragments of intestinal mucosa may be a common finding derived from intestinal inflammation. Confirmation of intestinal inflammation can be obtained from necropsied animals.
The use of probiotics is recommended to fight side effects of diseases that will not be improved by the use of antibiotics. In this scenario, antibiotics in therapeutic doses should be taking care of pathogens; however, the intestinal inflammation often remains unattended. Even inactivated probiotics exert a beneficial effect reducing inflammation by means of their cellular structure and particularly their intact DNA molecules and receptors, which are unique to every probiotic strain.

Probiotics and Necrotic enteritis 
Necrotic enteritis is one of the world’s most common and financially crippling poultry diseases, which when triggered can cause mortality rates of up to 50%. A team of USDA research scientist has investigated if the use of a multi-species probiotic may be beneficial in the control of poultry diseases, which are related to Clostridium perfringens. In conclusion, the data of these studies suggest that the probiotic was able to control poultry diseases like Necrotic enteritis and Gangrenous dermatitis.

The use of probiotic products can provide the poultry industry with an alternative management tool that has the potential to promote better intestinal health by managing the composition of the microbial population in the GI tract, to protect poultry flocks from infections with pathogenic bacteria and to decrease monetary losses due to pathogens.

Read more about nutritional solutions in poultry production to combat stress and disease.
Michaela Mohnl DI (MSc), product manager for probiotics at BIOMIN Holding GmbH Michaela.mohnl@biomin.net

http://www.wattagnet.com/articles/9342-poultry-production-how-probiotics-can-play-a-role

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