Why use a probiotic?
There are millions of tiny but mighty microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tracts of living organisms, including humans and animals. These microorganisms are important for the normal functioning of animals, as they play essential roles in nutrient digestion and the animal’s immune system. Enzymes, produced by these microbes, can transform the nutrients from the feed into energy that the animals can utilise for maintenance and production. In terms of the immune system, microbes in the gut help directly and indirectly inhibit pathogens, strengthen mucous layers (which prevent pathogens from entering the bloodstream), and maintain the animal’s health.
With the numerous challenges livestock animals and poultry face, such as transport stress, weaning stress, pathogen exposure, and weather extremes, their gut microbiota can become unstable, resulting in a decrease in production and animal health. Certain strains of probiotics can help stabilise the gut, ensuring the normal functioning of the animals.
Why Bacillus-based probiotics?
Bacilli are spore-forming microorganisms that can withstand high temperatures, low pH levels, and challenging conditions. Due to their robust and resilient nature, they have been shown to survive the harsh conditions of animal feed manufacturing. They can be added to pellets, crumb, mash, molasses, mineral blocks, milk replacer, and other feed products. It also leads to stability over a long period. As soon as the Bacilli reach optimum conditions, such as in the gastrointestinal tract of the animal, the dormant spores become active. When microorganisms reach a suboptimal environment, such as when they are excreted from an animal, the vegetative cells sporulate, becoming dormant once again. The result is not only a longer-term impact on your herd or flock, but also on the environment.
