Have you ever heard about "Antibiotic Growth Promoters" ?

Antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) have been widely used to improve performance of feed especially broiler chicken. Antimicrobials are given in order to control diseases such as necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens, and also to promote faster growth and improve conversion rates.

Several types of antibiotics used as growth promoters are penicillin, macrolide, sulfonamide, tetracycline, pleuromutilin, polypeptide, streptogramin, carbadox, bambermycin. Types of antibiotic growth promoters that are widely used in poultry include tetracycline, chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline (Ambrožič, 2012).

The use of Antibiotic Growth Promoter (AGP) in poultry feed aims to stimulate growth and increase immunity. How to enhance animal growth?

Antibiotics increase the efficiency of animal growth by inhibiting the growth of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract which triggers immune responses in the host (Gaskins et al., 2002).

On the other hand, giving feed containing AGP excessively and continuously can lead to security problems food originating from livestock due to increased pathogen resistance and accumulation of residues in the meat produced by livestock.

Consuming food of animal origin containing antibiotic residues can cause allergic reactions, toxicity, affect intestinal flora, immune response and resistance to microorganisms (Etikaningrum and Iwantoro, 2017).

Administering antibiotics to poultry in their feed or drinking water has had a major impact on the commercial production of meat for human consumption. As early as the 1950s, concern was being Expressed that continued use of antibiotics to promote the growth of poultry and other feed animals Might result in antimicrobial resistance of pathogenic bacteria in humans.

The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Agriculture in January 2018 has officially banned the use of antibiotics as feed additive as stated in Article 16 Permentan No.14/2017 concerning the classification of veterinary drugs. This raises concerns that there will be an increase in pathogens that cause infectious diseases in the digestive tract of livestock which have an impact on decreasing production performance. This is evidenced by research conducted by Prasetyo et al. (2020) that stopping the use of AGP in feed affects broiler production index (IP) where there is a decrease in weekly body weight gain and feed consumption, while conversion and mortality increase. So it is necessary to find alternative natural ingredients that can act as a substitute for Antibiotic Growth Promoter for poultry.

Many alternatives to AGP, such as probiotics, hormones, ionophores, methane inhibitors, Phytobiotics, or phytogenic substances, medicinal herbs which can be used as natural feed additives for poultry. Commonly known herbs that have received are Aloe vera, Fenugreek, Ashwagandha, Moringa oleifera, Cinnamon, Tulsi, Garlic, Pepper etc.

Read more in Scientific Microblog Version

References

Ertikaningrum, and Iwantoro S. 2017. Study of Antibiotic Residues in Poultry Livestock Products in Indonesia. Jitp. 5(1):29-33.

Prasetyo, AF, MYM Ulum, B. Prasetyo, and JI Santoy. 2020. Broiler Growth Performance after the discontinuation of Antibiotic Growth Promoters (AGP) in Partnership Pattern Animal Feed in Jember Regency.