Strategies to Reduce the Use of Antibiotics in Commercial Broiler Chickens

Résumé du livre

There is a global pressure to review current antimicrobial use (AMU) practices in animal production and limit large-scale propagation of antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Consequently, the Chicken Farmers of Canada are examining the possibility to responsibly reduce AMU by discontinuing medically important antibiotics (MIAs) for humans from disease prevention programs of broiler chicken flocks through the implementation of their Antimicrobial Use Reduction Strategy. However, information is sparse on the consequences of such approaches in a Canadian commercial poultry production context. The general objective of this thesis was to investigate the impacts of two strategies reducing AMU in commercial broiler chicken flocks on zootechnical performance, control of intestinal diseases and the cecal microbiota compared to conventional AMU. On seven commercial broiler chicken farms, a house was allocated to the antibiotic reduction treatments for six consecutive flocks, while a similar house on the same premises was assigned to the conventional AMU (CONV) for six consecutive flocks (n = 84). The antibiotic reduction strategies consisted of continuous in-feed ionophores without (TX1) or with butyric acid (TX2). There were no statistical differences (p > 0.05) between TX1, TX2 and CONV for zootechnical performance and intestinal health. Predicted Eimeria spp. oocysts were significantly lower (p