Effect of in feed administration of different butyrate formulations on Salmonella Enteritidis colonization and cecal microbiota in broilers.

Butyrate has been used extensively as a feed additive to improve gut health and to decrease Salmonella colonization in poultry. Salmonella mainly colonizes the ceca so butyrate concentrations should be increased in this gut segment. Discrepancies on the effects of butyrate on Salmonella colonization, described in the scientific literature, could thus be due to butyrate release location effects.

Valid publication of the names Caecibacterium and Caecibacterium sporoformans.

Descriptions of the genus Caecibacterium and its proposed type species Caecibacterium sporoformans were published in the IJSEM by Onrust et al. (Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2017;67:4589-4594). The type strain was deposited as LMG 27730 and DSM 26959.

Valeric acid glyceride esters in feed promote broiler performance and reduce the incidence of necrotic enteritis.

Valeric acid is a C5 fatty acid, naturally produced in low concentrations by specific members of the microbiota of the lower intestinal tract. Effects of valeric acid on intestinal health have been poorly investigated. Valeric acid derivatives can be produced as glyceride esters and added to broiler feed.

Caecibacterium sporoformans gen. nov., sp. nov., an anaerobic, butyrate-producing, spore-forming bacterium isolated from chicken caecum.

Strains of a Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped and immotile bacterium were isolated from broiler chicken caecal content. The isolates required strict anaerobic conditions for growth, formed spores, were catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. They produced butyrate as the major metabolic end product in reinforced clostridial medium broth.

Microbial shifts associated with necrotic enteritis.

An outbreak of necrotic enteritis (NE) is a complex process requiring one or a number of predisposing factors rather than just the presence of pathogenic Clostridium perfringens. Examples are dietary influences, such as high levels of non-starch polysaccharides and fishmeal, and factors that evoke epithelial cell damage, such as Fusarium mycotoxins in feed and Eimeria infections. Recent studies have shown that different predisposing factors induce similar shifts in the intestinal microbiota composition.

Steering Endogenous Butyrate Production in the Intestinal Tract of Broilers as a Tool to Improve Gut Health.

The ban on antimicrobial growth promoters and efforts to reduce therapeutic antibiotic usage has led to major problems of gastrointestinal dysbiosis in livestock production in Europe. Control of dysbiosis without the use of antibiotics requires a thorough understanding of the interaction between the microbiota and the host mucosa. The gut microbiota of the healthy chicken is highly diverse, producing various metabolic end products, including gases and fermentation acids.