Maintaining Gut Health: Novel Approaches

Gastrointestinal health and homeostasis in broilers is important from an economic point of view. Yet, it is not well understood with respect to microflora-host interactions and the effect of infection and immune response on digestive efficiency. There are many conditions that have been named to indicate gastrointestinal health problems. These include diarrhoea, coccidiosis, malabsorption syndrome, wet droppings, sticky droppings, dysbacteriosis, acid-base imbalance, intestinal colibacillosis and necrotic enteritis. Wet litter is described as litter with moisture content above 35%. This is deleterious as it leads to footpad dermatitis, folliculitis, breast blistering, coccidiosis, necrotic enteritis and blindness caused by ammonia production. The etiology of gastrointestinal disturbance is often multifactorial involving protozoan and nematode parasites, mycotoxins, bacteria, viruses, nutrient imbalances, and anti-nutritional factors.