Overall antibiotic usage in the U.S. poultry industry decreased significantly in the past 10 years, according to a recently updated report published by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY).
Reduction in antibiotic use is driven by a combination of new regulations, voluntary actions by poultry companies and purchasing decisions by some large retail and foodservice outlets.
The greatest reduction in antibiotic use was seen in the U.S. broiler industry. There, the production of birds raised without antibiotics quickly grew from a small niche market to more than half of all production.
According to industry sources, when broiler producers started to transition to no antibiotics ever (NAE) production, mortality rates increased, particularly first week mortality. In addition, feed conversion ratios (FCR) and growth rates were negatively impacted.
Some broiler complexes adapted growing programs to yield field performance which comes close to that of operations still utilizing antibiotics. But total production costs tend to be higher for birds raised without antibiotics.
This is due to increased downtime between flocks, reduced bird density in the broiler house and use of non-antibiotic feed additives even if mortality and FCR are comparable to flocks raised using antibiotics.
Since approximately 2018, the percentage of broilers in the U.S. raised without antibiotics remained relatively constant, at around 58%. This allowed annual improvements in bird performance the industry expects from genetic selection to once again be evident.
Standard improvements in FCR, or calorie conversion, and growth rates resumed in the past five years. However, industry sources indicate that mortality continued to increase.
USPOULTRY’s findings
USPOULTRY’s data findings were expected, given that all medically important antibiotic drug uses for production were withdrawn or transitioned to veterinary oversight. The antibiotics referenced in the study include penicillin, lincomycin, tetracycline, sulfonamide and neomycin. The data covers 85% of U.S. annual chicken production, 70% of turkey and 45% of layers.
Key data points identified in the study between 2013 and 2021 include:
- Broilers receiving antibiotics in the hatchery decreased to 0% from 90%.
- Turkeys receiving antibiotics in the hatchery decreased to 40% from 97% .
- Medically important in-feed antibiotic use in broilers and turkeys decreased substantially.
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