Probiotics are used in the world of pet and breeding birds more frequently than you might think. Many bird hand rearing formulas, foods and supplements are fortified with them and probiotics are even available as a standalone supplement.

So what are probiotics and do birds actually need them?

probiotics are essentially living micro-organisms, or good bacteria, found naturally in the gut of all animals. Good bacteria play crucial roles in the everyday life of birds by helping to break down food in the gut, converting it into valuable energy and producing other important nutrients as by-products. Good bacteria also serve as a natural competitor to bad bacteria and other infectious organisms that may enter the digestive system and make your bird ill. In hand raised baby birds (particularly babies hatched from the egg) the addition of probiotics into hand raising formulas are important to replicate the bacteria that would usually be passed on in the feeding process by the chick’s parents.

Competitive Inhibition: refers to one of the beneficial roles that good bacteria or probiotics can play in the gut of a bird.

	Diagram 1. Periods of high stress, illness or antibiotic treatment can reduce the number of good bacteria in the gut, leaving the digestive system vulnerable to infection and hampering the body’s ability to digest food. Bad bacteria or yeast can attach to receptor sites in the gut when the body’s natural levels of good bacteria are diminished and may cause illness.
	Diagram 2. Antibiotics can be very useful in clearing bad bacteria from a birds gut, removing the organisms from the receptor sites and assisting the bird in recovering from the burden of illness. Many antibiotics are not selective however and will actively destroy ANY bacteria in the gut, be they good, bad or otherwise! This leaves the gut and the receptors virtually exposed – now it is a case of first in best dressed for the next bacteria or organism that is ingested by the bird!
	Diagram 3. Probiotic use after stress, illnesses or antibiotic treatment can help the body fill the receptors with good bacteria, which compete with any bad bacteria that may try to take hold in the gut. If there are no receptors for the bad bacteria or infectious organisms to cling to, many will pass straight through the gut without a chance to make the bird physically ill – this is competitive inhibition in a nut shell.

There are situations and circumstances Probiotics should be used and others where they are either ineffective or simply not needed.

When to use Probiotics
• AFTER antibiotic treatments
• During and after periods of stress
• During and after illness
• When hand raising baby birds (check your hand rearing formula, all Vetafarm formula’s contain Probiotics and do not require any additions – while imported formula that is irradiated will have lost their probiotic content)
• In clean, fresh water or food only

When NOT to use Probiotics
• DURING antibiotic treatments
• In water with water cleanser/antibiotics, disinfectants or in dirty water

Featured in Talking Birds November 2010 written by Ben Mintern, Vetafarm