Antibiotic reduction

Raising healthy animals with less usage of antibiotics is the future challenge for animal husbandry. What steps can be taken to reach this objective? It is clear that it will not be simply replacing antibiotics by one single alternative. To reach the goal, farmers have to work on a multi-factorial approach, like farm management, climate and hygiene. Nutrition is an important part in this approach. Several steps can be taken from a nutritional point of view to increase the health of the animals.

Optimizing gut health by lowering the substrate (crude protein) is a good starting point. In next steps the focus will be on optimizing the microbiota in the gut by lowering the amount of pathogens and optimize the amount of beneficial bacteria. Products like probiotics and butyrate are known for positive effects in this field. Nutrition can also play an important role in optimizing the immune system. With an optimized immune response the animal is better protected and better able to handle pathogenic challenges.

No-antibiotics-ever might become the new normal, Orffa presents several solutions!