On August 7, 2007, BIOAGRA, LLC announced the completion of a successful study conducted at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, in collaboration with the Southern Poultry Research Institute under the direction of Dr. Charles Hofacre and Mr. Greg Mathis, Ph.D., President of Southern Poultry Research Institute. Dr. Hofacre is considered the foremost authority on necrotic enteritis by the poultry industry and the scientific community. The study was designed to demonstrate that Agrastim® can safely and effectively replace antibiotics in the feed of broilers when challenged by Clostridium perfringens, the agent that causes necrotic enteritis.

Necrotic enteritis is a disease that causes significant losses in the broiler industry. Once the disease is identified, the flock is usually treated with antibiotics to reduce mortality and economic loss. Necrotic enteritis was first detected in chickens in England in 1961 and since that time has been reported in the majority of countries around the world. Necrotic enteritis has been identified in broilers, laying hens, turkeys and quail. Necrotic enteritis has been estimated to affect up to 40% of the commercial broiler flocks and is believed to cost the industry about 5¢ per broiler in the United States (McDevitt et al, 2006).

This study supports BIOAGRA's claim that Agrastim® is able to safely and economically replace antibiotics in poultry feeds even in the presence of infectious agents. BIOAGRA expects that under conditions in which subclinical infections are present, Agrastim® may perform even better than antibiotics.

The Effect of Adding Agrastim® Supplement on Necrotic Enteritis in Broilers.
To define the effect of Agrastim® on necrotic enteritis, on Day 14 all birds were inoculated orally with a mixed coccidial inoculum containing approximately 25,000 oocysts of E. acervulina and 5,000 oocysts of E. maxima per bird; on day 19 and 20 birds in the experimental group were given a broth culture of C. perfringens 1 x 108 cfu/ml. Birds were given feed and water ad libidum throughout the trial.

Table 1
Effect of Agrastim® on feed conversion and weight gain in a necrotic enteritis model in broilers.

A summary of the results (Table 1) shows that the chicks fed the feed containing Agrastim® performed as well as those fed an antibiotic. There is no significant statistical difference between antibiotic-treated and Agrastim®-fed chickens in relation to weight gain or feed conversion over the 28 days of the study. However, the chickens fed Agrastim® at 40 grams/ton throughout the trial show a significant lower lesion score, indicating that these animals resisted invasion of the gut by C. perfringensbetter than those fed the feed supplemented with antibiotics.

Comparison of the Effect of Agrastim® and Antibiotics
on Growth Parameters of Broilers.

Two studies comparing the effect of Agrastim® to antibiotics were conducted, one at the University of West Virginia and one by a commercial grower.

1. University Study. To assess the effect of Agrastim® on various parameters of growth of a commercial strain of broilers, 1400 day-old chicks were divided into 4 groups and fed a feed containing the following additives: Group 1, Agrastim® plus antibiotic; group 2, Agrastim®; group 3, antibiotic; group 4 no additives. In all cases the antibiotic was BMD at a concentration of 0.05%; Agrastim® was used at 40 grams/ton for the first 2 weeks and 20 grams/ton for the remainder of the trial.

Table 2
Performance of broilers fed feeds supplemented
with Agrastim® and/or antibiotics.

The results of this study clearly show that Agrastim® can replace antibiotics without suffering any loss of performance. Since this was a laboratory study, the animals were not subject to the stress of the commercial-growing environment. We believe that, under commercial growing conditions, Agrastim® would give superior results because of increased resistance to bacterial and viral infections.

2. Study on Commercial Farm. In this second study,Agrastim® was used in the feed of two different breeds until the broilers reached market size (43 days) and all market parameters recorded. Weight, feed conversion and parts value for the two breeds as well as the average of the two breeds are given in Table 3.

Table 3
Performance of broilers fed feeds supplemented with
Antibiotics or Agrastim®

The results from these three studies demonstrate clearly that Agrastim® can replace antibiotics without loss of performance and it may actually improve performance. In these studies, the animals were kept in an environment relatively free of infectious agents, except as administered for the purpose of the study. Since Agrastim® improves the ability of the animal to combat infectious agents, it should be able to improve performance in an environment with an abundance of infectious agents that may cause subclinical as well as overt disease, such as in commercial farms.

Effect of Agrastim® on Growth Performance of Drug-Free Broilers. In a recently completed trial, a producer of “All-Natural Broilers”, who farmed broilers without the use of antibiotics in the feed, in the water or as therapeutic agents, added Agrastim® to the feed at a concentration of 40 grams/ton for the first two weeks and 20 grams/ton thereafter in one house with 20,000 broilers. The data from this house were compared to the data from a similar house of 20,000 broilers. The results are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Effect of Agrastim® on Growth Performance of Drug-Free Broilers. Agrastim® added to broilers feed resulted in 13 points better feed conversion, 50% lower mortality, 86% lower condemnation and decreased the time to reach 5.25 lbs from 48 to 45 days.

The results of this trial support the hypothesis that Agrastim® improves the performance in an environment where there is present significant challenge, i.e. the growing house. Agrastim® (Beta-1,3/1,6-D-glucan) is known to aid the ability of the immune system to combat infectious agents by increasing the activity of the cells of the innate immune system. Although we do not have any data at this time, it is possible that Agrastim® may also increase the levels of IgA (a protein that helps fight infection) in the intestine and thus, prevent infiltration of the intestinal wall by infectious agents