Maintaining a healthy gut is of critical importance in poultry productivity. There exists a balance between the commensal and harmful microbes in the bird’s gastro- intestinal tract with more than 90% main flora (e.g. Bifidobacteria, Lactobacilli, Bacteroidaceae) and less than 1% satellite bacteria (pathogenic e.g. Clostridium spp) and 0.01% residual flora (pathogenic e.g. E.coli).This state of microbial balance is termed as Eubiosis and is of importance in maintaining gut health. Any stress factor may create dysbiosis favoring increased numbers of pathogenic flora.

Antibiotic feed supplements are used to control the potential pathogenic bacteria and to improve poultry performance. Antibiotic residues in poultry products and development of antibiotic resistance by the microbes are potential threats with the usage of antibiotic growth promoters. An option is a feed additive which acts throughout the gastro-intestinal tract promoting the growth of favorable microflora. Amongst various options available to poultry industry, short chain fatty acids have shown tremendous promise in maintaining gut health through their varied modes of action.

Organic acids have been used in feed preservation, protecting feed from microbial and fungal contamination. They are also formed through microbial fermentation of carbohydrates in the large intestine. Organic acids produced within the body are particularly short-chin fatty acids like Acetic Acid, Propionic Acid and Butyric Acid. In poultry, organic acids have mainly been used to sanitise the feed as well as the gut. Among the SCFA, Butyric acid is a critical nutrient for the epithelial cells and is a regulator of cellular growth and differentiation through stimulating the secretion of Insulin like Growth Factor (IGF) from pancreas.

Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredient that are potentially beneficial to the health of the host, due to their fermentable properties which may stimulate the growth and activity of one or limited number of bacteria in the colon or caecum thereby providing nutrients to beneficial microbes favoring their growth and activity which in turn cause pathogen inhibition by competing for binding sites on the intestinal epithelium and stimulation of the immune system.

A synergistic composition comprising SCFA (Butyric acid) and a prebiotic compound has been found to act throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract by causing a reduction in entire gut PH, pathogenic bacterial count and improvement in beneficial microflora. The combination of SCFA and a Prebiotic is synergistic in that the two ingredients are believed to generate Butyric acid and other VFA in the lower intestine of chicken, which complements the organic Acid, simultaneously encouraging the growth of beneficial bacteria in the lower intestine.