Developing a probiotic to protect poultry from Salmonella

Our preliminary data shows that chicks exposed to a mix of 54 bacterial strains originally isolated from adult hens, became resistant to Salmonella. Thus, our strain collection includes culturable strains that can protect chicks from Salmonella. This project’s aim is to identify the single strain or minimal consortium of strains required for Salmonella inhibition and develop them as a probiotic product, which will be given once and protect chicks from day 2 of life. Successful completion of this project will result in lower poultry morbidity and mortality, less use of antibiotics, and contamination of the end product which will increase animal welfare and production efficiency.