ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE October 2023 45 “Different biotechnologies are now available in the market and transferable to production animals to study the microbiome. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing is a common method used to analyse microbiome profile and diversity in intestinal segments of animals. Metabolomics is also used to evaluate the effect of metabolites on gut integrity, and to understand how shifting the microbiome can affect the production of these metabolites.” For many decades, nutritionists have focused on quantifying energy and nutrient requirements to provide animals with ideal nutrient profiles at different production stages. Although these requirements are well-defined and consistently adjusted to new genetics, they are theoretical, and have been determined under specific growing conditions, given specific diet types. Beyond the definition of nutrient requirements, stressors interfere with animal behaviour and typically impair feed intake, which in turn affects performance. It is now well acknowledged that maintaining good gut health is key to minimising the impact of these stressors on animal performance. Kogut and Arsenault (2016) defined gut health as the “absence/ prevention/avoidance of disease so that the animal is able to perform its physiological functions in order to withstand exogenous and endogenous stressors”. This definition is in line with the World Health Organization, who defined gut health in humans as a state of well-being with the “absence of gastrointestinal complaints”. In other words, supporting gut health in animals is about finding strategies which make the animal more robust and resilient for the maintenance of homeostasis. GUT HEALTH FOR IMPROVED ROBUSTNESS Both robustness and resilience come into play as animals are raised in a constrained environment caused by ambient conditions (e.g., ventilation, temperature); ingredient quality (e.g., antinutritional factors, digestibility); feed quality (e.g., pellet durability, particle size); social stressors (e.g., stocking density, social interactions), and sanitary conditions (e.g., litter, parent stock) etc. These stressors tend to pull the animals out of homeostasis, and the ability to recover quickly becomes important to minimise the impact on overall herd performance and production cost. Along with steps to rationalise antibiotic use in the livestock industry, there has been a paradigm GUT HEALTH STATUS AS A TOOL FOR EVALUATING ANIMAL ROBUSTNESS AND RESILIENCE IN COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS Virginie Blanvillain Global Services Manager AB Vista
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