Investigations into synergistic effects of butyrate glycerides with plant extracts for reducing the use of antibiotics in chicken production

Principal Investigator

Joshua Gong, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Shayan Sharif, University of Guelph; Bruce Rathgeber, Dalhousie University

Year the work was done

2018-2023

Overall objective

  • To investigate synergistic effects of butyrate glycerides with plant extracts to promote chicken growth performance and to control necrotic enteritis in chickens.

Outcomes

  • Bird on 0.75% brown seaweed (Tasco) had the highest body weight followed by the medicated birds and the birds on 1.0% Tasco on day 35, suggesting that Tasco can promote broiler growth performance.
  • No synergic effects of butyrins with seaweed (Tasco) were observed.
  • No synergic effects of butyrins were observed with encapsulated oil product (NE-OFF) at the tested level.
  • No growth performance was affected by the combination of butyrinsand cranberry pomace.
  • The results suggests that Tasco could be fermented in the chicken gut.

Application

The research suggests that brown seaweed (Tasco) can:

  • Support bacterial growth after the treatment with simulated stomach and intestinal fluids, suggesting the possibility of in vivo fermentation of Tasco.
  • Improve broiler growth performance.

This research applies to

Breeders, Broilers, Layers

This research was supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canadian Poultry Research Council, Organic Cluster and Acadian Seaplants Ltd.