Applied Bacterial Control (ABC): Leading the way in antibiotic reduction in the UK’s poultry industry. 

The requirement to reduce and use antibiotics responsibly has been a top priority for the poultry industry for some years. Actual usage in layers and meat birds is very low, and well monitored with the use of laboratory testing before treatment. It is likely that further reductions in both choice of antibiotics and usage will continue to accelerate over the next few years. Many alternative products and systems have been proposed, and some have a use, especially when used holistically with a full understanding of the husbandry factors which lead to dysbacteriosis.

At St David’s Poultry Team we have led the way in testing alternative approaches, and now with many years of experience, we are in a great position to advice our clients on total packages of products and husbandry techniques which will allow further antibiotic reduction.

The programme we use is called ABC (Applied Bacterial Control). This system recognises that individual farms have different challenges, and using a wide range of alternate management systems and treatments is able to put in place tailored solutions to help farmers grow and manage birds with high welfare, excellent production, but minimal use of conventional therapies. ABC at its core is about diagnosis, and developing bespoke vet health plans to fit the farm’s individual needs. 

For more information, contact Richard Turner at richard@stdavids-vets.co.uk or Richard Jackson at richardj@stdavids-vets.co.uk. You can also listen to Richard Turner’s podcast below on the ABC protocol.  

Our inaugural poultry conference in January 2015, titled ‘The Science of Antibiotic Reduction’ was one of the first events to discuss antibiotic usage in poultry meat production and brought together a number of key speakers from prestigious research institutions to discuss the science behind reducing antibiotic reduction. Go to the following link to read Richard Jackson’s review on the topics covered at the event. 2015 Conference Review. 

Following on from the success of this conference, in March 2016, we held our second conference ‘Antibiotic Reduction- The Next Step.’ The focus this time was to discuss practical implementation of programmes to reduce antibiotic usage. Please click here to find out more information about this conference.