A three-year PHD study at the university of Leeds and continuing research have shown the potential for the combination of thymol and carvacrol as a feed microadditive to limit the production impact of eimeria challenge. Henry Greathead and Chris Kamel explain.

Analysis of different vitamin e sources for poultry rations showed clear differences in the transfer rate to body tissues. By comparing three different sources, baker and his colleagues pelletier, pfeiffer and troescher oncluded that currently used silica-based standard formulation provides the best performance for poultry.

Knowing what an animal needs is one thing, but predicting how it will respond to the nutrients in the diet is far more difficult. This area has long been recognised as an unresolved issue in nutritional science, and it was also a focus area at the latest bsas conference. Feed mix was there and highlights some of the challenges still to be faced.

Chickens need phosphorus in their diet. However, their inability to break down phytate molecules results in the release of undigested phosphorus in their manure and reduced animal performance. Arun Panda and his colleagues investigated the effect of microbial phytase supplementation to undermine these problems.

The ingestion of mycotoxins by farm animals can result in specific symptoms such as liver damage or egg production being affected. Besides, mycotoxins can also affect the immune system of birds, even at low levels. Mathieu Cortyl reviews some of the main research on this subject.

How do you reconcile the high performance required of broiler breeder hens and their offspring with high welfare standards without resorting to severe feed restriction? Sara Mellor highlights the results of five European partners' work pooled into a single resource.

Choosing between various growth-promoting feed additives in broilers requires extensive testing, also under challenged conditions. Ángela Gutiérrez del Álamo Oms, Gerard Santomá and Marko Schuring explore their effects in three trials.

Pakistan's tropical environment poses a great threat to poultry production. Tanveer Ahmad and Muhammad Sarwar's research into dietary electrolytes may prove vital to rescuing broiler performance under such extreme conditions.

Bacteriophages hold great commercial promise in disease prevention and control and in food safety assurance. Rainer Engelhardt and Bruno Rochet explain how Gangagen and Lallemand have joined forces to make the most of this ancient antibacterial.

Kicking off what will be a biennial event, Sarah Mellor joined nutritionists from around the globe in the picturesque setting of Salzburg, Austria for the first world nutrition forum. Not content to confine themselves to ingredients and additives, the trailblazers of animal nutrition discussed the future.