Good gut health in poultry is key to ensuring optimal performance, health and productivity. 

However, external factors – such as heat and environmental stress – can increase the risk of gut health issues. 

By supporting a robust gut microbiome, through measures such as the inclusion of poultry probiotics in rations, producers can help strengthen poultry intestinal health – and ensure their birds are best prepared to cope with challenges such as heat stress. 

This article explains how poultry probiotics, like GALLIPRO® FIT, can be used to help with stress management.

How does stress impact poultry gut health?

Many internal and external factors can impact gut health, including heat stress or stress caused by management practices such as the thinning process¹.

These stressors create gut microbiome imbalances, also known as dysbiosis, and increase the risk of gut health issues. 

Gut microbiome imbalances, caused by stress, can result in: 

• Lower absorption and utilisation of nutrients
• Increased susceptibility to disease
• Reduced growth rates and performance

How can poultry probiotics help with stress management?

Poultry probiotics can be used to help manage gut microbiome imbalances, such as those caused by stress, and deliver bird health and performance benefits. 

In the same way humans take probiotics to boost gut health, probiotics can be used to promote good gut health in poultry and a more robust immune system. 

Probiotics, such as GALLIPRO FIT, work by rapidly colonising the intestine to compete against harmful bacteria, while producing enzymes that assist with increasing energy and nutrient availability – all of which helps during stressful conditions^2,3.

How do you select poultry probiotics for stress management? 

Probiotic choice is very much dependent on what you want to achieve – they can be used both in response to undesirable bacteria challenges and to improve performance. 

Different poultry probiotic strains have different modes of action – some act as gut colonisers and others as non-colonisers: 

• Gut colonisers form a beneficial biofilm and exert positive effects exactly where they are needed. They tend to work over a longer period of time by successfully colonising and forming a significant proportion of the gut
microbiome 

• Non-colonisers tend to pass through the gut very quickly to address a specific short-term challenge, such as Salmonella 

In the case of stress management, gut colonisers are most appropriate as they will work over a long period of time to build a robust microbiome – meaning birds can cope better if they are faced with stress. 

Look for a probiotic which contains strains selected specifically for poultry with specific modes of action to support a reduction in undesirable bacteria, alongside beneficial enzyme production to improve the utilisation of feed – GALLIPRO FIT does all of this.

It contains three specially selected Bacillus strains that work together to support various aspects of poultry gut health. 

There are more than 1,000 strains of a single Bacillus species and strain selection is crucial because not all strains do the same thing. 

The three strains contained in GALLIPRO FIT and their capabilities are listed below: 

• Bacillus subtillis (DSM32324) – this improves protein availability⁴ and competes with gram negative and positive microbes⁵
• Bacillus subtillis (DSM32325) – this competes with gram negative and positive microbes⁵
• Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (DSM25840) – this improves energy availability
from non-starch polysaccharides and improves protein digestibility⁴ 

How do you administer poultry probiotics? 

Although probiotics begin forming beneficial biofilms within the gut rapidly, consistent use is required to establish a strong microbial balance in the gut. 

It is therefore recommended to incorporate them into diets from day one across production cycles – an approach which ensures a gradual, yet powerful impact. 

Poultry probiotics can be administered in different ways – including through water or feed. 

Both have been found to be effective, however periods of stress can impact birds’ drinking patterns – thus impacting how much of the probiotic they receive if it is administered in water. 

GALLIPRO FIT is suitable for in-feed administration from day one, and it can be used in premix, mash and/or pelleted feed. 

Remember – these products take time to work so although you will see a response after one cycle, you will really reap the rewards of poultry probiotics after two, or even three, production cycles.