• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.1109-1120
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• 2022

Antibiotics used to be supplemented to animal feeds as growth promoter and as an effective strategy to reduce the burden of pathogenic bacteria present in the gastro-intestinal tract. However, in-feed antibiotics also kill bacteria that may be beneficial to the animal. Secondly, unrestricted use of antibiotics enhanced the antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria. To overcome above problems, scientists are taking a great deal of measures to develop alternatives of antibiotics. There is convincing evidence that probiotics could replace in-feed antibiotics in poultry production. Because they have beneficial effects on growth performance, meat quality, bone health and eggshell quality in poultry. Better immune responses, healthier intestinal microflora and morphology which help the birds to resist against disease attack were also identified with the supplementation of probiotics. Probiotics establish cross-feeding between different bacterial strains of gut ecosystem and reduce the blood cholesterol level via bile salt hydrolase activity. The action mode of probiotics was also updated according to recently published literatures, i.e antimicrobial substances generation or toxin reduction. This comprehensive review of probiotics is aimed to highlight the beneficial effects of probiotics as a potential alternative strategy to replace the antibiotics in poultry.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1667-1673
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• 2017

Antibiotics have long been of great benefit for people, both in the medical treatment of human disease and in animal food where they improve the growth performance and feed utilization during animal production. Antibiotics as in-feed supplements affect all stages of pork production, including the gestation, nursing, growing, and finishing stages, although the effects show stage-dependent differences. However, the use of antibiotics in animal feed has become a worldwide concern. This review describes why sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotic additives in animal feed have become an integral part of animal feeding programs for more than 70 years, particularly in pork production. It also discusses the threat of the long-term use of sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics in pork production. In recent years, the effectiveness of in-feed antibiotics has tended to decrease. This review analyzes this change from various perspectives. First, the equipment used at pig farms has improved dramatically and is more sanitary. Worldwide, more pig farms use pig farrowing crates, gestation crates, piglet nursery crates, flooring devices, piggery ventilation and cooler systems, automatic pig feeders, piggery heating equipment, and artificial insemination systems. In addition, scientists have replaced the use of antibiotics with organic acids, fermented mash, probiotics, prebiotics, minerals, oligosaccharides, enzymes, herbs/flavors, and protein/amino acids, and have improved management and husbandry techniques. In addition, animal welfare legislation has been aimed at improving the quality of the floors and living space, ensuring that animals have permanent access to fresh water, and setting a minimum weaning age. Finally, the prospects and the possibility of replacing antibiotics in pork production are described, in line with recent research results.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.86-95
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• 2000

Animal feed additives are used worldwide for many different reasons. Some help to cover the needs of essential nutrients and others to increase growth performance, feed intake and therefore optimize feed utilization. They can positively effect technological properties and product quality. The health status of animals with a high growth performance is a predominant argument in the choice of feed additives. In many countries the use of feed additives is more and more questioned by the consumers: substances such as antibiotics and $\beta$-agonists with expected high risks are banned in animal diets. Therefore, the feed industry is highly interested in valuable alternatives which could be accepted by the consumers. Probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes and highly available minerals as well as herbs can be seen as alternatives to metabolic modifiers and antibiotics.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.17-33
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• 1982

The purpose of this experiment is to clarify the additional effect of antibiotics for the chicken breeding feed. This experiment was carried out with 6,560 individuals which were collected from four farms, Dugil, Hyubhoi, Sanggog and Kumsan. The duration of this experiment was 6 months from July to December in 1981. 1. Body weight and body gain. (1) The range of the body gain was 1.91-7.60% The most effective sections was T$_3$, and the effect was T$_2$, T$_4$, T$_1$, T$\sub$5/ in order. (2) The environmental sanitation of the Sanggog farm was not so good. In this farm the body gain was severely occurred in T$_3$ and T$_2$ sections. Mere gain obtained from T$\sub$5/ section. (3) The environmental sanitation was good in Dugil, Hyubhoi and Kumsan. A little body gain was occurred in these farms, but differences were shown according to the place or breeds. 2. Amount of feed intake feed conversion ratio. (1) Amount of feed intake was increased 0.13-3.19%, and feed conversion ratio was improved 1.68-4.62% compared with control. T$_3$ section showed high percent and T$_4$ T$_1$, T$\sub$5/, Is, C in order. (2) The keeping method of the chicken breed in Hyubhoi was floor brooding. From Hyubhoi and Sanggog farms, the efficiency was increased 9.4-9.8%. (3) From Dugil and Kumsan, the rate of improvement was low. 3. Mortality : Mortality was merely decreased in Sanggog and Kumsan farms which the sanitary and fowl caring conditions had been had, by additional antibiotics. But there was no worthy effect. 4. The ratio of carcass and the degree of skin coloration. The additional antibiotics in feed had no effect on the ratio of carcass but had the influence on the yellowish skin coloration. Skin coloring was good in T$\sub$7/ section and T$_1$, T$\sub$6/, T$_4$, C, T$_3$, T$\sub$5/, T$_2$ in order. 5. Economical efficiency (1) The addition of the antibiotics in feed increased 3.76-10.95% of gross earning. The highest earning was occurred in T$_4$ section and T$_3$, T$_1$, T$_2$, T$\sub$5/, C sections in order. (2) The earning rate was influenced by the antibiotic products. (3) In Dugil and Kumsan farms, there was no difference in earning, however, in Hyubhoi and Sanggog farms there was wide difference in earning. Conclusionally, the addition of antibiotics in chicken breeding feed is necessary. Especially in bad condition of environmental sanitation and floor brooding, the effect of additional antibiotics is clear. Selection of antibiotics from various kinds, maker's confidence and quality problems are important.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.540-554
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• 2023

Heat stress is a major challenge to animal production in tropical and subtropical climates. Rabbits suffer from heat stress more than farm animals because they have few sweat glands, and their bodies are covered with thick fur. Intensive farming relies on antibiotics as antimicrobials or growth promoters to increase animals' productivity and health. However, the European Union and many countries have banned or restricted the use of antibiotics in animal feed for human health concerns. Several studies have found that replacing antibiotics in rabbit feed with natural plants or feed additives increases productivity and improves immune capacity, especially under heat stress conditions. Growth performance, immune response, gut microflora, and carcass yield may be increased in rabbits fed a diet supplemented with some natural plants and/or propolis. In this review article, we discuss and summarize the effects of some herbs and plant extracts as alternative feed additives on rabbit productivity, especially for those raised under hot ambient temperatures.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 1994

In order to study performance enhancing effects of supplementary antibiotics (avoparcin, nosiheptide and enramycin), two feeding trials were conducted. In Experiment 1, 1, 040 male Arbor Acres were reared in floor pens for 6 wk. Chicks were assigned to one of the following four treatments: Basal diet(B), B+avoparcin 10 ppm, B+nosiheptide 2.5 ppm and B+enramycin 5 ppm. Each treatment had five replications of 52 chicks each. In Experiment 2, two antibiotics (avoparcin and enramycin) were compared in $2{\times}2$ (antibiotics$\times$sex) factorial design. One thousand broiler chicks were reared in floor pens for 6 wk. Each of the 4 treatments had five replications of 50 chicks each. The results of Experiment 1 showed that antibiotic treatments (enramycin, avoparcin and nosiheptide) significantly(P <0.05) improved weight gain. Feed/gain ratio of avoparcin treatment and enramycin treatment tended to he lower than the control but they were not statistically significant. Dressing percentages were high in avoparcin and enramycin treatments compared to the control and nosiheptide treatment. The number of E. coli and Cl. perfringens in ileum and cecal contents were decreased by antibiotic treatments. Moisture contents in excreta of the birds were not significantly affected by the treatments. Leg abnormality and mortality were not significaniy different among treatments. In Experiment 2, weight gain was significantly (P<0.01) different between sexes, but not between antibiotic treatments. Significant effects of antibiotics (P<0.01), sex (P<0.01) and interaction (P<0.05) were shown in feed in take. Feed/gain ratio of avoparcin treatment was significantly (P<0.01) lower than that of enramycin treatment. leg abnormality and mortality were not significantly different among treatments but those in male broiler tended to be higher than in female broilers. It was concluded that nonsystemic antibiotics supplemented to the broiler diets suppress undesirable microorganisms and improve broiler performace in general and avoparcin was most effective in improving feed/gain ratio.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.441-453
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• 2014

Antibiotics in the diets for poultry were not only used for avoiding and (or) control bacterial infections but for promoting growth of the birds. However, there has been massive concerns of negative effects of antibiotics on human health such as development of antibiotics-resistance bacteria and (or) genes. Subsequently, some of countries (i.e., European Union member of country and South Korea) banned the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in the diets for livestock industries in 2006 and 2011, respectively. Thus, it has become important to develop feeding strategies and feed additives to control and reduce the occurrence of diseases in livestock without using in-feed antibiotics. In this review, therefore, it is attempted to gather information with respect to (1) understanding the digestive physiology and (2) knowledge pertaining to interaction linking feed additives and its physiological and metabolic responses in broiler chickens.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.750-760
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• 2016

The use of antibiotics in Korean swine production has been changing to a restricted use of in-feed antibiotics. These antibiotics, which are also growth promoters, are powerful for disease control. Due to this issue, the swine industry is consistently looking for any kind of alternatives to antibiotics such as new feed ingredients, feed additives, feed formulation practices, or feeding methods to improve pig health and performance. In general, dietary factors provide bioavailable nutrients and/or affect physiological activity to modify the physiological condition, immune system, or microbial population of pigs to improve their performance and health. Thus, it is suggested that dietary factors may be important components in the growth and health management of pigs. Using an alternative grain feed such as rice, barley, and oats, low protein diets or low-high energy diets can be used as solutions to manage the effect of stress factors that cause growth and health problems at specific time points during the stages of pig production. Several studies support that these alternative feeds and dietary factors may improve pig growth and health by changes in intestinal conditions, immunity, or other physiological conditions compared with typical feed ingredients and diet management in pig production. Therefore, feed ingredients, low protein levels, and different energy contents in swine diets were reviewed to better understand how these dietary factors can contribute to improved pig performance and health under different physiological conditions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.1554-1560
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• 2000

Ninety-six crossbred (Large White${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Duroc) pigs, weaned at 35 days of age, were assigned to four dietary treatments in order to investigate the effects of oral antibiotics on the performance and the intestinal microflora of weanling pigs. Pigs were fed either a basal diet, without antibiotics, or the basal diet plus either 50 ppm acetylspiramycin, 50 ppm olaquindox, or 100 ppm bacitracin zinc. The pigs were housed eight per pen with three pens per treatment in an environmentally controlled nursery. Ten days after weaning, three pigs from each treatment were slaughtered and intestinal pH, microflora, and volatile fatty acid concentration were determined. At the end of the 4 week trial, the remaining pigs were weighed and feed consumption was measured. Average daily gains for pigs fed acetylspiramycin, olaquindox, bacitracin zinc and the control diet were 0.43, 0.40, 0.37, and 0.34 kg per day (p=0.001), respectively. Antibiotic addition did not modify feed intake, but acetylspiramycin improved feed conversion (p=0.003). In comparison with the control, acetylspiramycin significantly increased Bifidobacteria numbers in the jejunum (p=0.082) and ileum (p=0.014) and decreased total bacterial counts throughout the intestine (p<0.01 except for the ileum where p=0.079). Acetate production was significantly lower in the cecum (p=0.028) and colon (p=0.079) of pigs fed acetylspiramycin. In addition to increasing numbers of Bifidobacteria in the jejunum (p=0.082) and ileum (p=0.014), olaquindox increased Lactobacillus in the jejunum (p=0.004) and decreased E. coli in the colon (p=0.022). Bacitracin zinc increased Lactobacillus numbers in the jejunum (p=0.004) and Bifidobacterium concentrations in the jejunum (p=0.082) and ileum (p=0.014).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1635-1641
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• 2008

This study investigated the effects of solid-state fermentation of a compound pig feed on its microbial and nutritional characteristics as well as on pig performance and nutrient digestibility. A mixed culture containing Lactobacillus fermentum, Saccharomyces cerevisae and Bacillus subtilis was used for solid-state fermentation and solid-state fermented feed samples were collected on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 30 for microbial counts and chemical analysis. Lactic acid bacteria increased rapidly during the first three days of fermentation and then slowly declined until day 10 and, thereafter, the counts were maintained at about 6.7 log cfu/g for the duration of the fermentation period. Enterobacteria also increased during the first two days, and then fell below the detectable level of the analysis (3.0 log cfu/g). The pH of the fermentation substrate declined from 6.1 at the start of fermentation to 5.7 by day 30. The water-soluble protein content increased from 8.2 to 9.2% while the concentration of acetic acid increased from 16.6 to 51.3 mmol/kg over the 30-day fermentation. At the end of the 30-day fermentation, the solid-state fermented feed was used in a pig feeding trial to determine its effects on performance and nutrient digestibility in growing-finishing pigs. Twenty crossbred barrows ($14.11{\pm}0.77kg\;BW$) were allotted into two dietary treatments, which comprised a regular dry diet containing antibiotics and a solid-state fermented feed based diet, free of antibiotics. There was no difference due to diet on pig performance or nutrient digestibility. In conclusion, solid-state fermentation resulted in high counts of lactic acid bacteria and low counts of enterobacteria in the substrate. Moreover, feeding a diet containing solid-state fermented feed, free of antibiotics, can result in similar performance and nutrient digestibility in growing-finishing pigs to a regular diet with antibiotics.