Probiotics – Bacteria Keeping Your Pigeons Healthy

We can fight salmonella by taking care of the good bacteria in the pigeon’s gut. We should try to avoid the use of antibiotics, which will also kill the good bacteria and later this will allow the growth of pathogens. The good bacteria can also be affected by stress, for example after a hard race. This is when the probiotics become useful.

Oral administration of antibiotics and other antibacterial compounds increases susceptibility to disease. The antibacterial compounds are suppressing the organisms which normally protect against disease, allowing the pathogens to grow.

Roy Fuller: “There is a tendency to regard all micro organisms as harmful; to equate bacteria with germs. Nothing could be further from the truth. The number of non pathogenic species far exceeds the number of pathogenic species and many of the none pathogens are infact useful, even essential for the continued existence of life on earth. One example of a beneficial group of micro organisms are those which inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of animals.

Animals with a deficient flora can have their resistance restored by administration of a faecal suspension from healthy adult animals of the same species. A good example of this effect is the faecal dosing of day old chickens hatched into a clean environment without the opportunity to acquire their protective flora from the mother hen. These chicks are more susceptible to colonisation with Salmonellae but after dosing with a faecal suspension from an adult chicken they become resistant.”

PREBIOTICS: specific substances that stimulate the growth of desirable bacteria already present in the gastrointestinal tract.

PROBIOTICS FACTS:

pro-bios = for life

Beneficial bacteria produce substances toxic to salmonella.

Before we use the probiotics for birds, we must make sure the water IS NOT chlorinated. We can do this by boiling it or by letting it in a large open pot for at least 24 hours.