Gut health plays a vital role in nutrient absorption, development of immunity and disease resistance in chickens. However, when gut health is compromised, diseases such as necrotic enteritis and coccidiosis can cause major health concerns in a producer’s flock. Those issues can ultimately impact feed intake and conversion, leading to economic losses.

With limited options for disease control, antibiotic-free or No Antibiotics Ever (NAE) poultry producers need a tailored, well-planned Intestinal Integrity program. An effective program includes careful planning and management strategies, so that when issues arise producers can evaluate and adjust their disease prevention program quickly.

Effective Management Strategies for Antibiotic-Free Poultry Production

Maintaining an Intestinal Integrity program year-round is essential to help control coccidiosis in chickens. As part of an Intestinal Integrity program, producers should walk the chicken houses multiple times per day to encourage movement to feed and water, which helps establish good gut health from the start. If one house is experiencing disease issues like high levels of cocci or necrotic enteritis, that house should be cared for last when doing daily chores. That will help decrease the likelihood of bacteria or other disease organisms being carried into the other houses.

Producers should also adhere to pest and rodent management best practices as well as proper biosecurity practices in their operations. Farm workers can pick up infectious diseases on their boots and track them into the houses, which can negatively impact the birds’ immune system and reduce their ability to respond to coccidiosis. Poultry houses should have dedicated outside areas where producers, service techs and visitors can put on protective coveralls and over-boots before stepping in disinfectant powder as they enter the house.

Having an effective pest and rodent management strategy will help reduce the impact that pests like darkling beetles and flies can have on broiler farms. Darkling beetles in particular can have a negative impact on poultry operations. Darkling beetles can host and transmit diseases from one flock to the next, causing decreases in growth and productivity and increases in mortality — especially during an infestation with high beetle populations.

Related Article: Reduce Headaches and Economic Losses Caused by Darkling Beetles

Additional feed and management strategies that help support poultry nutrition and bird health include:

Select the Right Intestinal Integrity Program To Help Control Coccidiosis in NAE Chickens

There are a limited number of tools available to help control coccidiosis in an antibiotic-free chicken production system. The three primary non-antibiotic product types available are weak chemicals, strong chemicals and vaccines. A well-planned strategy is essential to ensure that the flock has a positive response to each program.

Elanco recommends that producers work with a technical consultant who can provide insight and guidance on overall planning, management, gut integrity, bird performance and coccidiosis control.

Vaccine programs are typically run for six months out of the year but can be used year-round. How long a vaccine program runs is going to vary by producer. Factors like bird density and the other non-antibiotic interventions being used play a role in determining the best vaccine program for an NAE production system.  

Chemical programs can be used either as stand-alone programs or in combination with a vaccine program. One effective chemical program NAE producers can use is a weak chemical, like ZoaShield™, in the first two feeds; followed by a strong chemical, like Clinacox®, in the third feed. This combination delivers optimal protection to the birds’ Intestinal Integrity and can be run for multiple cycles. Alternatively, a vaccine can be followed by either a weak or strong chemical in the second or third feeds.

Manage Your Flock’s Health With Intestinal Integrity Scores

To best manage a flock’s health, NAE producers should consider using the Intestinal Integrity Index (I2), which provides an overall picture or metric of broiler Intestinal Integrity. I2 scores are calculated within the Elanco Health Tracking System (HTSi), a comprehensive database integrating more than 20 years of data and more than 6 million individual bird post-mortem analyses.

With the assistance of an Elanco Technical Consultant, producers can track and benchmark the health of their birds over time, evaluate a broad range of health conditions and identify potential health issues early. These health and performance insights can be a contributor to data-driven flock health management, helping to identify which lesions are causing health issues. This leads to more strategic and targeted interventions.

For example, a posting session may identify intestinal lesions that lower the Index score of a flock from 100 to 90.¹ Previous HTSi data analysis has found that a one-point decrease in the score has been shown to drop feed conversion ratio (FCR) by 0.0013. Therefore, an index score of 90 could indicate a loss of 1.3 points of FCR, which in modern-day production equates to around one cent of additional cost per bird.

Assess Results During Posting Session 

Posting sessions will help evaluate a producer’s cocci control program. During a posting session, an Elanco Technical Consultant evaluates all organ systems. Overall bird health, in addition to gut health, is assessed.  For NAE producers, Elanco recommends conducting a posting session with birds starting at 13 days of age. This allows veterinarians to identify an occurrence of cocci or necrotic enteritis early, and allows producers to quickly make any necessary adjustments to their program.

By partnering with an Elanco Technical Consultant, NAE producers can create a customized Intestinal Integrity program to manage their flock’s health more precisely and effectively.

Producers can learn more about the Intestinal Integrity Index and discuss ways to develop a well-planned Intestinal Integrity program by viewing this Intestinal Integrity webinar.

Clinacox and ZoaShield are trademarks of Elanco or its affiliates.