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.

The rumen is a very efficient organ, producing microbial amino acids and making them available to the animal. However, rumen fermentation also brings some disadvantages such as methane production. Together with the nitrogen losses due to inefficient utilisation of dietary protein, this brings a great risk to the environment. To find new solutions to this problem, a large European project was set up to explore new plant extracts with methane inhibiting characteristics and animal health promoti...

Adding phytogenic substances to feed not only increases the palatability, it also improves nutrient digestibility. Therefore, these plant based concentrates can smoothen the lactation period of sows explains Jörg Perner.

Humans and animals were satisfying their nutritional and medicinal requirements from plants long before the appearance of modern medicine and feed additives. Adapting this principle to modern agriculture forms the basis for R&D at Indian Herbs' Specialist Centre.

Livestock require a constant supply of high-grade nutrients. Christian Lückstädt, Gwendolyn Jones and Walter Nies believe that combining of organic acids with their salts and phytobiotics have proved promising in economic antibiotic-free feeding, via improved feed safety, digestion and intake.

Aromas, flavours and sweeteners are commonly used to improve palatability. In ruminant nutrition however, their efficacy remains generally unclear. It is time to focus the use of palatants into specific applications.

One of the problems experienced in silage making is keeping tract of the diversity of forages available. Low sugar and high dry matter forages like alfalfa have always proved problematic – until now. A new specific silage inoculant has been shown to improve fermentation and aerobic stability in alfalfa.

So far the US has been relying on the use of antibiotics in sow diets to maximise lactation performance. However US research institutes looking to the future (no antibiotic growth promoters) are investing in research to find safer and more sustainable dietary solution for modern lactating sow nutrition.

Approximately 200 experts from more than 20 countries joined the Performing Nature Symposium event in May in Vienna, Austria and organised by Delacon. Experts from around the globe presented their viewpoints on the use of phytogenic feed additives in animal nutrition as an alternative to traditional antimicrobial growth promoters.