The Role of Probiotics in Poultry Feed: A Strategy Against AMR

Abstract

Several impacts, such as the spread of a variety of diseases and antimicrobial resistance, have coincided with the chicken industry's increased productivity. This review highlights and summarizes the effects of probiotics in poultry feed in order to cover knowledge gaps and provide future guidance. Published studies (Google Scholar, Elicit, and PubMed search) that reported probiotics in poultry feed between 1999 and 2024 were reviewed using the following terms: "probiotic in poultry feed","application of probiotic in poultry production’s’,"effects of probiotic in broiler performance", and "antibiotic resistance". After evaluating 1220 abstracts, 150 relevant publications were selected for further review.The production of meat and eggs in the poultry industry is critical to global food security. AMR has always been a major issue in poultry production, hurting animal health and welfare. Antibiotics and chemotherapeutic drugs have long been used in animal feed to treat and prevent infectious diseases while also promoting growth. However, the use of similar antibiotics to treat human and animal diseases, including poultry, as well as antibiotic overuse and misuse, have resulted in a global problem of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, contributing to the need to develop alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters. Probiotics have attracted a lot of attention because of their capacity to modify the immune system, improve growth performance by contributing to gut health, structural modulation, enhanced cytokine production, all of which help protect the intestinal mucosal lining from infections. This paper looks at the importance of probiotics in poultry nutrition, specifically how they improve the gastrointestinal tract, increase daily increments, improve meat quality, egg output, and disease resistance. Probiotic supplementation from natural sources provides an alternative to synthetic antibiotics for improving growth and preventing gastro-intestinal disorders in chicken. The study stresses the need for additional research to enhance probiotic formulations for improved poultry output.