Vol. 7, Issue 7 (2018)

Author(s):
Ravinder Dahiya, Kapil Dev and Kiran

Abstract:
The poultry industry is a well-organized and fast growing sector of Indian economy. Introduction of improved breeds, nutritional standards, knowledge of disease prevention and scientific management practices have increased meat and egg production significantly. Antibiotics have been widely used in poultry production for decades to improve growth rate and feed conversion efficiency, however, their use as growth promoters in the poultry industry has been intensively controversial because of the development of bacterial resistance and potential consequences on the human health (Ratcliff, 2000). In response to this apparent threat, the European Commission (EC) decided to phase out, and ultimately ban (January, 2006), the marketing and use of antibiotics as growth promoters in feed (EC Regulation No. 1831/2003). Now the poultry sector is continuously searching for new feed additives in order to improve the feed efficiency with minimum deleterious effects on animal health. A modernistic challenge in the poultry production is to exploit the use of specific dietary supplements to boost the intrinsic potential of poultry birds in order to perform better.