Lactobacilli as Probiotics in Chicken Feeds

Abstract

In the current intensive live stock industry the gut flora can be disturbed as aresult of several stressors that affect the intestinal tract. New food safety regulations demand to replace antimicrobial additives in poultry feed and still produce healthy poultry. Probiotic micro-organisms like lactic acid bacteria administered with the feed may contribute to a strategy to comply with these demands.Lactobacilli have been shown to stimulate immunity, increase colonisation resistance and increase competitive exclusion. This review highlights some effects of probiotics and their working mechanisms. It is concluded that still more effort should be directed towards the mechanisms behind immune stimulating properties, their contribution to resistance against enteric infections, and the selection of probiotic strains.