ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2023 29 THE ABILITY OF CHICKENS TO SMELL AND TASTE: AN UNDERESTIMATED CONCEPT? The belief that birds have a poorly developed sense of smell and taste has been a popular belief in avian physiology. However, more and more studies are showing the presence of a more developed, complex, and selective olfactory system than traditionally accepted. Similarly, the chicken possesses a very important number of taste buds in different regions of the oral cavity epithelium, with a rapid rate of renewal, which allows it to respond to different stimuli immediately after birth, showing a behavior of aversion or acceptance of different compounds, fundamental from the nutritional point of view. The latter is implicit in the mechanism of action on the consumption of Butirex C4. INCREASED FEED INTAKE WITH BUTIREX C4: A CONSTANT AND REPEATED EFFECT Throughout almost 20 years of experience with the use of Butirex C4 on the market, increased feed intake is the most repeated and observed effect in chickens in the first 2-3 weeks of life. For several Figure 1. Effect of Butirex C4 on consumption at early ages. Meta-analysis of 20 trials (P<0.01; (SEM:0.49) Immune system Development and modulation of immunity (both innate and acquired) Control of inflammation Production of mucin and antimicrobial peptides Microbiota Fast colonisation: 3 days post birth (x10 number of bacteria) Importance of early colonising bacteria for the future population of the microbiota Modulation towards acid lactic and butyrogenic microbiota
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