Farmers have been looking for ways to minimize their use of antibiotics, but at the same time maximize their profit. For this reason, non-antibiotic growth promoters have become very popular in recent years. One such product is our Novosol®.

Novosol® is a unique blend of short-and medium-chain fatty acid monoglycerides in combination with (natural) essential oils of garlic and oregano supporting animals in times of intestinal challenges, during phases of high-density rearing and a high pathogenic load in the flock, while reducing or even replacing the need of antibiotics as medication.

Farmers have been looking for ways to minimize their use of antibiotics, but at the same time maximize their profit. For this reason, non-antibiotic growth promoters have become very popular in recent years. One such product is our Novosol®.

Objective:

In this study, the aim was to assess the effects of XVET`s Novosol® on performance, mortality rates, and its effect in the small intestine of broilers. The following parameters were measured and calculated: Weight, Feed consumption, Feed Conversion Rate (FCR), mortality rates (death and culled), morphometrical data, Return on Investment (ROI) calculation for the farmer.

Material and methods:

As a general procedure on the day of arrival, all birds of both groups received liquid vitamin C during the first two days. From day 2, the Treatment group (n= 27 376 birds) was supplemented with Novosol® via drinking water (2 L in 1000 L drinking water) for full 3 days compared to another broiler house (n=25 603; determined as the Control group) which received drinking water with the antibiotic Biocillin for 5 consecutive days as a preventive measure. Another period, of Novosol® application was from day to day of life.

The broiler chickens were kept for around 6 weeks until they were slaughtered. The Treatment group was slaughtered on the 41st day of life, while the Control group was kept for two additional days because of lower stocking density in their housing.

To obtain samples for morphometrical analysis, birds from both groups were selected randomly.

Results:

Table 1: Summary of performance data of trial results in both groups

	Groups
Parameter	Novosol	Control
No. of animals – Start	27 376	25 603
Animals – thinned out/sold earlier	7 320	6 098
Final no. of animals	26 821	24 924
Feed consumption (kg)	98 120	93 800
FCR (calculated by the program)	1.66	1.69
Weight – birds sold alive (kg)	0.30	0.65
Weight – birds slaughtered (for thinning) (kg)	1.854	1.851
Final weights – birds slaughtered (kg)	2.37	2.48
Total weight produced (kg)	58 959	55343
Slaughter day	41	43
Mortality rate (Death & need for culling; in %)	2.03	2.65

Histomorphometric Results

In order to examine the histomorphometric changes a total 40 broiler birds sent to Academy of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Pathology Center Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.

According to investigation report, it was found that on both, the 9th and the 27th day of the study groups, the villous height indices of jejunal broilers were higher than those of the control groups. The difference was more pronounced on the 9^th day of age – 12.11 percent, while on 27th day the difference in the villi height index of broilers of that age was insignificant – 1.56 percent.

Crypts: On the 9^th day of the age, the jejunal crypts of the broilers in the Novosol® group were shallower by 18.97% than the control broilers, while on the 27th the rate of crypts in the age study group was higher by 12.88 percent than of the control group. 

1. table. Histomorphometry indicators of jejunum

Jejunum	Villus height (µm)	Crypt depth (µm)
Novosol group, 9 d.	1123	235
Control group, 9 d.	987	290
Novosol group, 27 d.	1407	396
Control group, 27 d.	1385	345

Both on the 9th and on the 27th of the study groups, the thickness index of the caecum of broilers was significantly greater than that of the control groups.

2. table. Results of histomorphometric examination of the cecum

Cecum	Mucosal thickness (µm)
Test group, 9 d.	335
Control group, 9 d.	301
Test group, 27 d.	551
Control group, 27 d.	429

A                                                  B

A: Novosol group, 9^th day of life, jejunum, HE-stained, composite image, x40

B: Control group, 9^th day of life, jejunum, HE-stained, pooled image, x40

Summary:

Taken all results together, we can conclude that our product Novosol® given for only a few days had a very positive impact on improving the mortality of this broiler flock under challenged rearing conditions (higher stocking density) and improved survivability and Feed Conversion Ratio compared to an Antibiotic-treated Control group. Besides this, we could see the positive influence of Novosol® on the development of the intestinal morphology which has been scientifically proven in hundreds of scientific studies and might explain the improved FCR seen in this trial. Taken all this together, the application of Novosol® in a commercial broiler house could give the farmer a valuable Return on Investment (ROI) of 1:2.

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank our cooperation partner from Lithuania, as well as the farm employees and technicians that worked on the planning and achievement of this trials, for sharing the information with us and giving us the permission to use the information which they provided to us.
For more information, please contact our technical team: technical@xvetgermany.com.