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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #335608
Research Project: Ecological Reservoirs and Intervention Strategies to Reduce Foodborne Pathogens in Cattle and Swine

Location: Food and Feed Safety Research

Title: Enhancing the microbial population within poultry

Author
item Callaway, Todd

Submitted to: All About Feed
Publication Type: Popular Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/11/2016
Publication Date: 10/18/2016
Citation: Callaway, T.R. 2016. Enhancing the microbial population within poultry. All About Feed. 32(10)1:3-4.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Recent research advances have led to an explosion in information on the composition and impact of the microbiome on health and productivity that is nothing short of revolutionary. The accelerating rate of discoveries is dizzying, and we see in a way that we never could before the importance of the microbial population of the gut and how profoundly that impacts host animal well-being and productivity. The fact that the microbiome is so inextricably linked with host growth and energy status indicates a bright promise for improving poultry growth efficiency by manipulating the microbial population through diet and probiotic approaches. By using what we have learned from the ecology of the larger world, we can manipulate the micro-inhabitants to positively enhance their environment (the bird) while improving production efficiency.