The development of protein and amino acid formulation strategies to reduce necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens

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Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a common disease of broiler chickens caused by the overgrowth of Clostridium perfringens in the intestinal tract. One of the factors which predisposes birds to NE is the amino acid content of the diet. The objective of this proposal is to determine factors associated with dietary amino acids which affect the populations of C. perfringens in the intestinal tract of broiler chickens. Specifically, we will investigate the effect of dietary amino acid balance, amino acid digestibility and the level of non-essential amino acids on intestinal populations of C. perfringens, gut morphology and gene expression. We will also investigate the effect of subclinical necrotic enteritis on bird growth performance. The results of this work will enhance our understanding of the relationship between dietary amino acids and intestinal bacterial populations and reduce our dependence on in-feed antibiotics for broiler production.