According to my experience, acidifiers are mainly focused on piglets diet and do not have the effectiveness to replace antibiotics for broilers. However, Essential oils can be a good alternative to AB in the drinking water or in the feed for broiler starter diet. My company is intensively working on this matter with interesting results.

As it is discussed in scientific literatures, acidifiers have a good potential for using in poultry and especially in swine diets. The effectiveness of acidifiers is depended on some features such as their PKa, the basal diet, animal age, etc. Although there are promising effects of acidifiers in poultry and swine industry, they are almost completely absorbed at ileum and therefore could not be efficient enough at cecum, an important part for living of some pathogens such as salmonella. In conclusion, based on the evidences, although they have very good efficient for replacing antibiotics, antibiotics are more widespread than them.

Acidifiers are used in poultry diets in summer to prevent the bird from heat stress in recent years.As it is discussed mostly in swine diets,acidifiers maybe play a less important role in poulrty than in swine,for the gastrointestinal function of a postwened piglet is so fragile .However,a chick can find food in outer field alone .

Dear Heydar,

Hoping you have a nice day, although acidifier is recently using as a promising alternative for antibiotics in Europe and USA, to my knowledge, it is rarely used in Iran.

Some acidifiers (citric acid, formic acid and combinations of them) have been reported to decrease the colonization of poultry gut by pathogenic bacteria and limit their production of toxic metabolites. Formic acid in poultry feed has also been reported to have anti-fungal properties. We have many on-going studies to determine the effect of some organic acids in poultry feed and water on poultry performance.

Acidifiers are used on poultry farms here to replace antibiotics that have now been banned. The results have been, considered encouraging.

Acidifiers are widely used here as well. Many people believe they can completely substitute AB-s. Unfortunately it is not true. Reason explained by Ali above -thanks! Bacteria also can be adapted to acids much more quickly than to AB-s.

BUT AB-free rearing (not only meat!) is an increasing demand from urbanised customers - we must comply.

Thanks!What we need is some available feeding program,including nutritional strategy.

Actually we do not use acidifiers in poultry and sometimes we uses antibiotics. But instead of using both acidifiers and antibiotics , better use completely cooled hot water throughout the growing period of broilers to avoid mortality and to improve the growth of broilers.. Its difficult to follow but if we try to do with automation we can succeed. thanks..

( Dr. Loganathan Ramasamy)

I agree with Meng that acidifiers was used to reduced panting and respiratory alkalosis in poultry in summer in the first class and second to Change the microflura in digestive system but its not replace antibiotic

For acidifiers to be effective from the jejunum to the caeca they must be coated else as rightly pointed out there is a very rapid uptake by the enterocytes. Commercial preparations of vegetable fat coated sodium butyrate are available and provide very good concentrations in the hind gut and consequently powerful antibacterial effect. Moreover, bacteria are highly susceptible to this SCFA.

Antibiotics (ABs) are severely criticized in poultry feeding because of their residual effects on meat and eggs. Many developed countries already banned ABs and using alternatives and many developing countries are still dependent on ABs. In fact, its not so easy to exclude use of antibiotics suddenly, particularly in breeder birds,. Dependence on ABs can be reduced gradually in the interest of food safety. Acidifiers (organic acids, either singly or in combination of two or three are considered safe and surely have the capacity to improve gut health by reducing the load of pathogenic organisms. Whether or not they will act as suitable alternatives to ABs will depend on many environmental factors: pathogen load, temperature, humidity, housing condition, diet composition, method of application, efficiency of product etc. So, research results vary even though they are in use as per instructions of the manufacturers.

Professor S. D. Chowdhury

I worked for many years in that subject acidifiers are non specific immune stimulants improve immune system enhance titer of antibody after vaccination enhance digestion and birds get a healthy gut close bacterial receptor

Read our work with essential oils in drinking water to control Salmonella compared to acidifiers.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956713512005506?v=s5

http://www.wattagnet.com/Oils_in_chickens__drinking_water_may_reduce_Salmonella_contamination.html

I agree with Prof. Chowdhury, Although acidifiers have been used to control pathogenic organisms, it cannot be used as a total replacement to antibiotics. They are used in many feed mills to clean the equipment and to reduce microbial load in feed, it has been directly mixed in feed to lower microbial load BUT I cannot say that it can totally replace antibiotics, however it is safe and not harmful, the same cannot be said about antibiotics!

Dr. R.Asha Rajini

Agreed with Asha and Prof. Ch.

But still data is needed to support in a better way

Thanks Dr. Asha and Dr. Tanveer. It is true that we do not have enough data and we can not rely absolutely on data reported by the manufacturers. So, we need to generate adequate data of our own on the use of acidifiers in poultry. For the generation of unbiased data, we need in depth study for finding out suitable and safe alternatives to antibiotics (ABs). In principle, acidifirs (organic acids), because of their properties, may be useful with or without other tools (e.g. probiotic) but the degree of usefulness and cost-effectiveness will have to be considered in commercial production of broilers and eggs

.

Professor S. D. Chowdhury

Nice Dr SD Ch. Hope to have good data from researcher.

I also agree with Prof. Chowdhury, Dr. Asha and Dalia Mansour about the use of acidifiers. Recently, we found that short chain and medium chain fatty acids enhance disease resistance against S. enteritidis by boosting cationic host defense peptides (part of innate immunity) in broiler chicks. However, we may not completely rely on these acidifiers and we need to optimize several conditions to get the maximum effect of these acidifiers as antibiotics.

Thanks Sunkara. In spite of results of variable nature, we have to find out alternatives to antibiotics to ensure food safety. Researchers have enormous scope to conduct trials on probiotic, prebiotic, acidifiers and other feed or water additives under varying environmental conditions. Next time, I will share with you the results of one of my feeding trial that we have conducted recently with commercial broiler.

Prof. S. D. Chowdhury

Thank you very much Dr. Chowdhury for your appreciation. I will wait to get your research results.

It can be sumarised that acidifiers cannot substitute ABs,but we can see a heathier gut in poultry with its application.By now,food safety is highlighted in broiler industry and the previous production mode is being condemned by the media.I am very appreciated with Prof. S. D. Chowdhur`s feedback.And I am looking forward to your results of your feeding trial.

In our recent feeding trial, we used a probiotic (Bacillus subtilis) as an alternative to a commonly used antibiotic. Four dietary treatments were compared: control diet, control + antibiotic growth promoter (AGP), control + probiotic (PB) and control + AGP + PB. The duration of trial was 35 days with 700 Cobb 500 commercial broilers. While initial body weight was 47g in all groups, the final weight was 1897, 1819, 2014 and 2027g respectively in control, AGP, PB and AGP+PB groups. The corresponding FCR was 1.88, 1.83, 1.65 and 1.66. The results of both PB and AGP+PB were statistically similar differing significantly (P

Growth parameters improve only in presence of healthy gut and minimized colonization in GIT all probiotic improve health condition by that way either maintain health of git and minimize colonization of pathogens

PB mainly concluds oligosachrides.Yet acidifiers are not PB,though a lot of evidence confirmed that some kinds of organic acid can improve health condition of young animals.What`s more,acidifiers can inhibit germ growth to some extent..In word ,it seems that acidifiers can be used singly in animal diet.

Commenting within the comments of specialist. please make me correct if i am wrong. Will consider it as part of my education.

As far I have studied organic acids's mode of action described above is pH dependent. It enters into the bacteria and viral organisms, dissociates into ions and lowers the pH within the cell which ultimately inhibits their production.

So it is totally ineffective against those pathogens which are not pH dependent but luckily pathogens highly concerned with poultry are pH dependent. ie Salmonella, Ecoli, etc

But still there is a question about regular use of acidifiers in diet or drinking water of birds. bcz cobb and arbor acre manuals discourage its regular use. Secondly as my seniors mentioned above that it can not replace completely Abs.

Here is another salt in market that is much safer than organic acids if use on regular basis ie chlroine dioxide, even in feed or in drinking water. Additionaly it is good against fungal and bacterial spores.

List of reference papers against the above mentioned microbes

Many thanks to Hassan`s post.It is still being disputed with the machenism of organic acid on the poult`s gastro-intestinal microflora,and my intension is whether acidifiers can be a substitute of antibiotics in starter diet in broilers.Thanks to you all.

thanku mam.

but there is no complete replacement of antibiotics in poultry as far i know.But Yes we have to go for alternates which may reduce their inclusion levels.. In that regard these organic acids for limited time and this CLO2 can be used during complete rearing ie starter to withdrawal.

Regards

I don`t think that if the inclusion levels of dietary antibiotics were reduced,the acidifiers would be the first choice for alternate to deal with gastro-intestinal problems in poultry industry.There may be probiotics,enzymes,etc.

O yes Miss, u r very right, but don't forget the salt i mentioned.. Plz also go through its literature and even from wikipeidia. take care.

Regards

I quite agree that probiotics are part of the solution to AGP replacement, as the trial of Sd Chowdhury showed. However the problem with probiotics is the repeatability question. They can be very inconsistent in effect, especially under field conditions due to obvious reasons.

I am using sodium butarate in broilers on commercial farms. In my opinion gut acidifiers are good for GIT health but these are not as good as antibiotic growth promoters.

Dear Meng, let me know the challenge and I can let you know the replacement probability. Is the environment and the biosecurity OK?

Also is important to notice about the protection of the organic acid, just to know if there is any chance to achieved the target. Without protection organic acids dissociates and can not inhibit pathogens because the mechanism describes by Kaleem. But salts need more concentration no have any effect to pathogens (MIC), around 10 folds.

yes it was used in many feed mill. use acidifier to replace AGP

Organic acids have potential to replace in feed antibiotic growth promoters. 

 Although I did some works on probiotics and found useful replacers of antibiotics, a combination of multi-strain probiotics, acidifiers (organic acids) and multi-enzymes together  is the best according to literature available to date.

 Dr Sd Choudhury Sir, could you please share some of your Research publications with us so that we can prepare ourselves for producing antibiotic free chicken in future for the betterment of human race.  It may sound difficult but not impossible if we get such great contribution from experts like you. Also, let us discuss why it is so difficult for us - The developing nations to raise Antibiotic free chicken.

Acidifiers enhance the activity of protein-digestive enzymes in the GIT.They also make the GIT environment unfavorable for pathogen like Salmonella spp and equally provide a conducive environment  for beneficial microbes such as Bifidobacteria 

Dear Meng Junying, antibiotic can not distinguish between pathogenic bacteria or non pathogenic (probiotic). so the use of acidifier as a growth promoter is better than AGPs. Asidifier enhance the action of brobiotic and prebiotic on GI tract.

Actually acidfiers reduce the pH of GIT which is benefiial bacteria (i.e. Lactobacillus) and detrimental for most of the pathogens. In this way, these products modify gut microflora in positive way which resulted in better gut health. It is undstood thing that better gut health will lead to better nutrient utilization and growth performance.