Yeast Probiotic Boosts Feed Efficiency and Growth in Poultry, Asserts Phileo: INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES

At a time of expensive feed, it is essential to maximise the gut health of your animals, ensuring that energy isn’t going into inflammation which could be going into production.

In order to support this goal, Phileo by Lesaffre is rolling out Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+, a yeast probiotic which has been appreciated for many years by the swine and ruminant sector, for poultry as well. Today, we hear from Phileo’s Lin Wang, Global Poultry Program Manager; Dr. Alain Riggi, DVM, Global Poultry Manager; and Anna Crockett, North American Poultry Sales Manager, about the research Phileo has carried out to demonstrate Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+’s effectiveness in birds, its potential impact on the poultry industry, and the company’s objectives for this launch.

[Feedinfo] Can you start by giving a bit of background on Actisaf®? How long has this product been available in other species? What makes it distinct from other probiotics available to the animal nutrition market?

[Lin Wang] Phileo by Lesaffre is the animal health and nutrition business unit of Lesaffre group which has 170 years of history and experience in fermentation. Phileo benefits from Lesaffre's long-standing fermentation expertise as well as state-of-the-art manufacturing technology. Putting customers at the center of our missions, Phileo is equipped with a dedicated animal health and nutrition R&D division plus veterinarians and nutritionists.

[Alain Riggi] Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ has achieved worldwide success in ruminants and swine for 30 years. We’re therefore delighted to now be able to expand the probiotic’s use to our poultry customers, based on detailed research evidence and a series of extensive global trials.

[Feedinfo] What applications and markets are you focused on with the initial launch into poultry?

[Lin Wang] The launch of Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ in poultry took place in the US during the 2023 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). The probiotic’s IPPE launch marks the beginning of a new phase in the journey of Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ as a multi-species brand, providing Phileo with the strongest possible start to 2023. The positive feedback that poultry key stakeholders shared with us confirms the launch is a successful one.

Furthermore, we’re thrilled to announce that the journey of Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ is moving forward with a launch taking place in Asia during VIV Asia (March 8 to 10, Bangkok).

[Alain Riggi] For the launch of Actisaf Sc 47 HR+ we focused on the broiler market first. In particular we focused on alternative broilers like heavy broilers (more than 7 weeks breeding time and/or 3.5kg of body weight) or free range. Data shows that Actisaf Sc 47 HR+ achieves its probiotic effects on birds’ microbiota diversity and gut function, thus contributing to production performance improvement in these heavy and slow growing broilers. Furthermore, ongoing studies are being carried out on local breed broilers in Asia.

[Feedinfo] This launch was, of course, preceded by several years of studies to demonstrate Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+’s advantages for poultry growers. What kind of impacts have been seen when it comes to gut function? And how does Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ influence the digestibility of the feed?

[Alain Riggi] Yes, several studies have been done with different universities to better understand Actisaf’s mode of action. We have seen that Actisaf helps reduce inflammation levels in the gut. For instance, we witnessed a reduction of the activation of the Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4) and then a reduction of pro-inflammatory interleukins such as TNF-α released. At the same time there is an increase in the anti-inflammatory interleukins released, like IL-10. This leads to a reduction of inflammation in the gut and a better integrity of the tight junctions between goblet cells. This last parameter is especially important to reduce the occurrence of leaky gut and wet litter. Reduction of inflammation also leads to an increase of the nutrient absorption surface like longer villi. These modes of action explain why digestibility of crude protein and organic matter is improved.

[Feedinfo] In what ways does Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ modulate the microbiome, and how does this benefit the bird?

[Alain Riggi] Actisaf’s effect on the microbiota has also been evaluated in trials. The microbiota balance can be evaluated with different indexes. For instance, it has been demonstrated that Actisaf can help increase observed species, ACE (Abundance-based coverage estimators) and Chao 1 indexes. This shows an enrichment of the microbiota. Other parameters like Shannon and Simpson indexes were also increased, which shows a better evenness of the microbiota. We can conclude that Actisaf helps improve the α-diversity of the microbiota in broilers. Thanks to a healthier gut flora, the birds are more resilient and recover faster after experiencing stress, because if one microbe is unable to fulfil its function, another is available to step in.

[Feedinfo] What are some of the particular challenges of the poultry industry that Phileo believes Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ can assist with?

[Anna Crockett] The poultry industry, as in other animal protein production industries, are facing production cost increases and volatility in inputs including energy, labour and raw feed materials. Our customers are searching for the best way to feed their birds. This results in feed formulation changes. Each change can impact a bird’s production performance, for example, causing an increase in feed conversion ratio (FCR), a decrease in final body weight, etc. To mitigate this negative impact, Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ is proven to be a reliable solution. With positive effects on birds’ microbiota diversity, gut function, and nutrient digestibility, Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ can help birds to reach optimum feed efficiency and growth.

[Feedinfo] Ultimately, what influence does Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ have on the performance of the bird and the farmer’s bottom line?

Regarding the return on investment (ROI), a field trial from customer experience can give concrete numbers. It’s a field trial carried out last year on a broiler farm in Europe. Broilers were raised for 39 days in two houses. In the first house, the birds were fed a basal feed without yeast probiotic supplementation. In the second house, birds were fed a basal feed supplemented with 400 g/T of Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+. At D39, broilers in the Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ group achieved better production performance across all parameters (body weight, survival rates, feed efficiency, etc.). The trial also yielded an 8:1 ROI for the broiler farm.

[Feedinfo] What about the future? What do you have planned for Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+?

[Alain Riggi] We will continue to deploy the Actisaf launch in other regions. Following the successful launch in the US, in March we’ll launch Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ in Asia.
We are also trying Actisaf in local breeds in Asia, such as yellow broilers in China. This production is very important in this country, and we are convinced that Actisaf can help reduce the production costs of yellow broilers.
At the same time, at the R&D level, we will continue to further develop our knowledge on Actisaf’s mode of action. For instance, Actisaf releases certain metabolites that are involved in Actisaf’s mode of action and they need to be identified more precisely.

[Lin Wang] Continuous research is in Phileo’s DNA. We are dedicated to offering reliable solutions to our customers. For this, we keep on investigating our solutions and most importantly how our solutions can help our customers.
At Phileo by Lesaffre, we act with nature for animal care, with the objective to better nourish and protect the planet. The positive effects of Actisaf® Sc 47 HR+ on feed efficiency and growth performance can contribute to sustainable poultry production in more and more countries and regions of the world.

Published in association with Phileo by Lesaffre