There is little financial benefit to using growth-promoting antibiotics in chicken feed, according to an American study published by Johns Hopkins University.
The study showed while antibiotics in the birds’ feed accelerated chicken growth, any benefit was offset by the cost of the medication. American producers were only ahead about one cent per chicken by using the antibiotics in feed.
The study used data from poultry giant Perdue.
“We have never believed that shaving a few pennies off production costs justified the erosion of our valuable arsenal of antibiotics,” said Richard Wood, steering committee chair of the Keep Antibiotics Working coalition, which issued the news release.
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If there is no economic benefit gained by using antibiotics it doesn’t make sense to continue, he added. The coalition believes the increase in human antibiotic resistance is connected to the use of growth-promoting antibiotics in animal feed.
Doug Korver, associate professor of poultry nutrition at the University of Alberta, said there are several differences between poultry production in Canada and the United States.
In Canada, production is regulated under the supply management system, which gives poultry producers more financial flexibility.
“The Canadian producers typically have better facilities than the American producers,” said Korver.
Americans also tend to house birds in open-sided barns. In Canada barns are climate controlled, which creates its own issues with ventilation and heating in winter.
Despite the production differences, both countries use growth-promoting antibiotics in feed to prevent disease problems and increase growth rate, said Korver.
As in Europe, a growing number of North American consumers want less antibiotic use in animal feed. Korver said the antibiotics used as growth promotants in chicken feed aren’t the same class of antibiotics used to treat disease in humans.
Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to ban prophylactic use of antibiotics in poultry feed. Since the ban, the Danish agriculture industry has actually increased antibiotic use.
In three out of four flocks the elimination of antibiotics has created no problems.
But the fourth flock is often stricken by a bacterial infection and managers must treat birds with therapeutic antibiotics at higher levels.
In many cases, those therapeutic antibiotics are of the same class as the ones used in humans, said Korver.
“The industry recognizes, either through legislation or pressure, there will certainly be changes in the way we use growth-promoting antibiotics,” he said.
George Walker, manager of Unifeed’s feed plant in Sherwood Park, Alta., said he disagrees with the finding of no economic value to using growth-promoting antibiotics. But he also sees a growing trend away from them and toward organic alternatives.
Some early Unifeed trials using a feed and water-based organic product to replace antibiotics looks “very favourable,” said Walker.
The organic product kills bad bacteria and builds up good bacteria in chickens, said Walker, who has managed poultry barns around the world.
“We’ve got good or better results with the organic products than with the antibiotic growth promotants,” said Walker, who believes consumer pressure will force poultry producers to look for alternatives.
Bill McGill, vice-president for livestock services with Agricore United, said the use of growth-promoting antibiotics has been key to suppressing disease levels in the poultry barns.
“If a bird is fighting diseases even at low levels, it detracts from its ability to grow and develop as it should.”
McGill said as long as the public perception exists that livestock antibiotics increase antibiotic resistance in humans, the industry must look for alternatives.
“It’s required a lot of research to find a lot of alternatives to antibiotics to adequately protect birds and livestock during the growth period. If they’re starting to become cost competitive with antibiotics, that’s a good thing.”
