Technical article
2022-09-30
Adding probiotics to bees’ food helps make them more resistant to nosemosis, a fungal infection associated with colony collapse disorder that has been observed in Europe and North America over the past 20 years. Currently, nosemosis is treated with antibiotics, but their efficacy is declining as resistant strains of the fungus have emerged.
2022-09-29
pigs are prone to gastrointestinal (GI) infections because their stomachs do not produce as much hydrochloric acid as adults do. This high pH environment can give rise to an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria and hinder the population of beneficial bacteria necessary for healthy digestion. It also leads to more undigested feed entering the lower gastrointestinal tract.
The effect of probiotics consists of several mechanisms. Probiotics live in the mucous lining of the gastrointestinal tract. The bacteria living on the surface create a certain acidity level. The pH of the mucous membrane lowers, making it impossible for pathogenic bacteria such as E.coli and Salmonella to grow. Probiotics bind to the surface of the intestinal mucosa and prevent pathogenic bacteria from attaching. They excrete antibiotic substances which kill pathogenic bacteria and stimulate the immune system.
Probiotics are extensively used as feed additives due to the potential positive effect of establishing a protective microflora in the gastrointestinal tract of calves. Lactic acid bacteria have been identified as a tool that can be used to maintain intestinal microbial balance and prevent the establishment of opportunistic pathogenic bacterial populations. Bacillus species are believed to reduce pathogen colonisation by activating key survival pathways and stimulating the immune system in epithelial cells. However, the effects of probiotics on the growth and health of calves are inconclusive and frequently driven by differences in probiotic species, viable probiotic bacterial numbers, and administration methods.
probiotics have been developed as alternative feed additives to the prophylactic use of antibiotics. Probiotics are described as live microorganisms that, if administered in adequate amounts, promote gastrointestinal tract health, enhance dry matter intake, improve mucosal immunity, increase production performance, reduce methane production, and minimise energy loss in ruminants.
Providing probiotics to adult chickens after they have been treated with antibiotics also seems like a reasonable course of action. By "after" we mean giving your chickens probiotics for a week or two after they have taken the last dose of antibiotics. Why? Because antibiotics will also kill the good bacteria in the probiotic so provide the probiotics immediately after the last dose of antibiotics .