The importance of balance
Klasing, (1987) made the connection
between gut microbiota imbalance and
poor growth performance and more
recently researchers such as Choct and
Biscoff have identified the negative effects
that non-beneficial bacteria can have on
gut morphology, nutrition, pathogenesis
of intestinal disease and immune
response. Bischoff also made a connection
between an animal’s psychological
state and production environment, and
the state of its health.
The acquisition of a positive microbiota
in the first few days after hatching has a
profound effect on the overall health of a
bird. Commercial production conditions
and the short life span of a broiler chicken
do not allow for the complete maturation
of the avian immune system.
This, in turn, can predispose the bird to
challenges that manifest themselves in
obvious ways, i.e. diarrhoea, or that can
be subclinical, reducing production
parameters such as growth and feed conversion
efficiency8
.