Gut Health

'Every living species has HDPs. I like to think of them as the animal’s natural antibiotics, they are peptides that are acting just like antibiotics that we have used for therapeutic control of disease for decades.' © istock

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What do vitamin D and host defense peptides have to do with poultry gut health?

By Jane Byrne

Few in the scientific community are looking at how various vitamin D metabolites are influencing the expression of host defense peptides (HDPs) in the gut, but its a potentially winning feed strategy in a post antibiotic growth promoter era, says a US...

© istock/jarun011

Dispatches from EuroTier 2016

ADM continues to build case for yeast and immune defense

By Jane Byrne

ADM Animal Nutrition says it is investing in R&D to strengthen the use of its well-established whole cell yeast product, Citristim, in aquaculture, while it continues to shore up its knowledge on the additive's influence on immunity and gut health. 

© istock

Dispatches from EuroTier 2016

Devenish rolls out fatty acid ball for piglets

By Jane Byrne

A new type of nutrient supply model, in ball form, is said to improve feed intake and pre-weaning weight gain in piglets, as well as supporting healthy gut development.

© istock/Evgeny Sergeev

Danish group invests in aqua feed research facility in Chile

BioMar looks to bolster expertise in functional fish feeds

By Jane Byrne

BioMar is to acquire 30% of a feed research center in Chile, in a move the Danish fish feed company says will allow it to focus on the development on functional feeds and fish welfare.

© iStock

Special Edition: pig and poultry feed trends

Feed additive may help birds weather the heat

By Aerin Einstein-Curtis

Additive N-acetylcysteine may boost growth performance and gut function in broilers faced with heat stress, say researchers.

© iStock/phototechno

Special Edition: Gut Health

Cargill aiming to model the effect of antibiotics

By Jane Byrne

What is the current strategy of Cargill Animal Nutrition (CAN) in terms of boosting animal immune development, disease resistance and performance?

“There is mounting evidence that if you feed biomolecules to a calf the intestine can communicate with the rumen,” says researcher. © iStock

Special Edition: Gut Health

Calf intestinal health linked to long-term performance

By Aerin Einstein-Curtis

Calf gut health research needs to be part of a larger understanding of calf development, not an isolated study, as it can have lasting influence, say calf researchers.