| Category | Veterinary Technology |
| Keywords | Probiotics, Chicken, Food Additive |
| Current development stage | General list: TRL4 Technology validated in lab |
Application
Salmonella is a pathogen for both humans and chickens. Most Salmonella infections are from contaminated chicken meat and eggs. Salmonella also causes morbidity and mortality especially in young chickens and slows growth. Furthermore, contaminated flocks may need to be eliminated. Thus, Salmonella is both a public health issue and an economic problem for the poultry industry. Currently, the main tools for disease control are strict hygiene methods, surveillance programs, and vaccination. It should be noted that numerous Salmonella strains exist, and only a few have a developed vaccine. Additionally, the chicken’s immune system is not fully developed in the first weeks of life, leading to suboptimal vaccine induced immune responses.
Our Innovation
We propose a new probiotic formulation which is administered on the day of hatch. The proposed probiotic has been shown to substantially effect chicks a day after inoculation and will likely inhibit all Salmonella strain infections, with resulting benefits that include:
- Protects chicks from Salmonella from the second day of life
- Protects chicks from Salmonella induced growth inhibition (figure 1C)
- Likely protects from all strains of Salmonella including antibiotic resistant strains
- Can likely be utilized in both meat (broiler) and egg (layer) production
- Possibly reduces Salmonella spread.
- Possibly protects chicks from other pathogens
- Non GMO
- Likely single application required, most effective would be on day of hatch
Technology
The probiotic mix was given to chicks on the day of hatch. On the next day they were exposed to Salmonella. Samples were collected on the eighth day. Figure 1 A and B show that the Salmonella count in the liver and cecum is substantially reduced on day eight after application, indicating that even one day after hatching there is a significant effect of the probiotic. Figure 1 C and D show increase chicken weight on day eight after probiotic application compared to the Salmonella only control.
Opportunity
The successful development of this probiotic is likely to reduce Salmonella levels in commercial poultry operations in both broiler, layer, and breeder operations. This will reduce morbidity and mortality of chicks resulting in a more ethical and efficient operation. Also likely is a reduction in zoonotic infections, through contaminated meat or eggs, and levels of antibiotic resistant Salmonella. This product will theoretically be able to replace salmonella specific vaccination, and reduce the need for antibiotic veterinary interventions. This product will hypothetically be able to reduce levels of other poultry gut pathogens such as Campylobacter and Clostridium.
