What are probiotics & prebiotics and how do they work?
What are probiotics?
These are specified, specialised live bacteria and yeasts which offer benefits for the bird's intestinal stability. They are derived from specific bacteria or yeasts and must be given in the right form and quantity to have a beneficial impact. They also have to be able to survive the harsh environment of the stomach as they need to be alive in the intestines to work, unless you are giving them to specifically benefit the crop of course.
Probiotics can include one or more of the following bacterial species; Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus. The quality of the probiotic is largely dependent of the strain of bacteria used and its concentration.
How do probiotics work?
They replenish low levels of beneficial bacteria present in an imbalanced gut. They not only help your hen's digestion to work efficiently, but can also re-balance the gut flora to support the immune system and control inflammation.
What probiotics are not suitable for poultry?
These include bacteria and yeast that are not able to survive within the hen. They also include microbes which do not benefit the hen in any way. Use of unsuitable products can even cause further inflammation to the hen intestines.
What are Competitive Exclusion Products?
These are (often) unspecified or poorly specified cultures of microbes, or "friendly bacteria" developed from healthy adult hens intestinal flora. These can benefit the hen by out-competing disease-causing bacteria. They can do this physically as the pathogens try to invade through the intestinal wall, or by outcompeting them for food, making it more difficult for disease-causing bacteria to survive. They are not probiotics and may not contain the same level of specific beneficial bacteria. They are often used to seed the gut with a healthy intestinal flora. They may not, on occasion, be as effective as a high quality poultry probiotic and prebiotic combination.
Diagram summarising how probiotics and prebiotics work
When buying probiotics and prebiotics, it is important to understand the difference between them and how they can be used to help your hen.
What are prebiotics?
These are complex molecules, often oligosaccharides. Other examples of prebiotic molecules include inulin, pectin, beta-glucans and some starches.
How do prebiotics work?
Prebiotics support the survival and growth of "good" poultry gut bacteria and help the bird's immune system fight disease-causing bacteria.
They help promote a healthy gut flora, which not only benefits the hen but can serve as a barrier to pathogen colonization. The following are various ways that poultry prebiotics can benefit a hen.
Providing "food substrate" for the beneficial microbes inside a hens intestines.
Altering the pH inside the gut to make the environment more suitable for the beneficial gut bacteria.
Stimulating production of beneficial short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) which can inhibit growth of disease-causing bacteria.
Interfering with or blocking disease-causing organisms that are trying to invade the hen via their intestine.
Stimulating the immune system by affecting the fermentation of bacteria in the gut.
How to maximise the effect of probiotics and prebiotics?
Poultry prebiotics give poultry probiotics a better chance of establishing, benefiting a healthy gut flora. For maximum impact, prebiotics should be given during and after probiotic treatment so they can work together helping create a healthy environment inside your bird.
How can you identify a "good" probiotic?
A quality probiotic will normally specify the strains and ideally the numbers of bacteria within it. Different bacteria are designed for slightly different purposes. The strains of bacteria are designed specifically to interact with their hosts. Therefore, it is important to choose a probiotic specifically designed for use in the species indicated, so choose poultry probiotics for use in poultry.
How can you identify a "good" prebiotic?
A quality prebiotic will normally specify the active ingredients it contains and ideally the levels at which they can be found in the product.
When should you use a probiotic and prebiotic?
You should considering using probiotics and prebiotics any time a bird's gut bacteria could be unbalanced. Both products can be given together to support each other's function initially, then prebiotics can be continued for longer to continue to support the re-balanced gut flora. The following are examples of times when this could happen
If you change feed from one brand or type to another
Your hen is not eating as much as usual (broody, moulting, unwell)
After antibiotic treatment
After a surgical procedure
At any time of physiological or mental stress. Click here to find out what this means and to discover more examples of stress.
If the hen experiences persistent diarrhoea
References:
ABD EL-HACK, M.E., EL-SAADONY, M.T., SHAFI, M.E., QATTAN, S.Y.A., BATIHA, G.E., KHAFAGA, A.F., ABDEL-MONEIM, A.M.E. and ALAGAWANY, M. (2020) Probiotics in poultry feed: A comprehensive review. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 104, 1835–1850.
JHA, R., DAS, R., OAK, S. and MISHRA, P. (2020) Probiotics (Direct-Fed Microbials) in Poultry Nutrition and Their Effects on Nutrient Utilization, Growth and Laying Performance, and Gut Health: A Systematic Review. Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI 10, 1–19.
KABIR, S.M.L. (2009) The Role of Probiotics in the Poultry Industry. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 10, 3531.
RICKE, S.C. (2018) Focus: Nutrition and Food Science: Impact of Prebiotics on Poultry Production and Food Safety. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 91, 151.
