The future health of flocks without routine antibiotic use
It is not so long ago that antibiotics were routinely used on broiler farms to promote growth and keep pathogens at bay. Chicks were often dosed with a starter antibiotic, such as Linco Spectin or Amoxycillin, for the first three days of the cycle, and this made a significant and positive difference to week-one mortality rates. Mortality rates could be as little as 1% with the use of a routine preventative dose, as opposed to 6-7% without it. This practice was expensive but highly effective in eliminating the threat that pathogens pose to the healthy development of broiler chicks. However, routine administration of antibiotics is now an outdated practice, due to its clear links to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), not just in the animals it is administered to, but in humans too, via the food chain. Farmers have even gone on to adapt their animal welfare practices to tackle enterococcus without antibiotics. The likelihood of AMR increases when antibiotics are overused, so using them responsibly is crucial in ensuring these life-saving medicines continue to work in both humans and animals.