Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Whole live micro-organism – cell – or virus containing – Bacteria or actinomycetales
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-03
2002-06-25
Weber, Jon P. (Department: 1651)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Whole live micro-organism, cell, or virus containing
Bacteria or actinomycetales
C424S093462, C424S093100, C424S093460, C424S093300, C435S262500, C435S262000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06410016
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method for administrating viable microorganism compositions to poultry in which viable microorganism compositions useful for the growth of poultry are administered, thereby feeding the poultry with a high productivity while reducing the amounts of medicaments, such as antibiotics, antibacterial agents and the like, or without the administration of the medicaments.
BACKGROUND ART
In the feeding of poultry, such as broilers and the like, dense rearing of 40 to 60 birds per 1 tsubo (ca. 3.3 m
2
) of a poultry farm is generally carried out in order to reduce the production cost. Furthermore, poultry is fed in to achieve rapid growth, 40 to 55 g in average daily body weight gain, so that the birds may be shipped by about 2 months after hatching. Under these conditions, the poultry is always under great stress, and they often become sick, and diseases often spread among the poultry. In floor feeding, since the poultry pecks the feed and the like, which are smeared with excrement on the floor, toxic bacteria spread very easily upon all the birds in the feeding facility. Also, in an open feeding facility, or even in a windowless feeding facility in some cases, toxic bacteria can easily spread across the feeding facility. In addition, for example, although a broiler house is disinfected every time when broilers are shipped, since small animals, such as rats and the like, in the surrounding area are not affected by this treatment, and these animals carry bacteria, such as salmonella and the like, into the poultry house when broiler chicks are again put into the feeding facility.
In order to maintain high productivity while preventing a decrease in the rate of growth and the like during the feeding period, and also to prevent the contamination of the poultry with toxic bacteria under these conditions, various medicaments, such as antibiotics, antibacterial agents and the like, are generally administered to the poultry.
However, since these exists the possibility of residual medicaments in the meat and eggs, and also the danger of generating bacterial strains resistant to the medicaments (as has actually been reported in many cases), demand has been increasing among users for drug-free livestock farm products, produced without using medicaments.
On the other hand, under natural conditions without dense rearing of a large number of poultry, high productivity cannot be expected. However, it is possible to raise poultry, such as chickens and the like, without using medicaments, such as antibiotics, antibacterial agents and the like. The meat and eggs of chicken raised under natural conditions, namely so-called yard native chicken, are now in great demand because of the safety and good taste, and traded on the market at a high price.
Consequently, great interest has been directed toward the development of a feeding method for raising poultry, such as chickens and the like, without causing contamination with toxic bacteria, while maintaining high productivity, by a drug-free feeding method (feeding in which medicaments, such as antibiotics, antibacterial agents and the like, are not used during part of, or through the entire, period of feeding, so that the medicaments do not remain in the birds, at least at the time of shipping).
When the conventional dense rearing of large numbers of poultry is carried out by merely avoiding the administration of medicaments, the poultry are easily infected with toxic bacteria. Therefore it is not possible to maintain productivity at a commercially acceptable level without causing contamination with toxic bacteria.
As a means for reducing the infection of poultry with toxic bacteria without depending on medicaments, such as antibiotics, antibacterial agents and the like, it has been proposed to administer microorganisms and the like which are useful for the growth of various poultry. Bacteria belonging to the genus Bacillus, lactic acid bacteria belonging to the genus Lactobacillus, bacteria belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium and the like are known as useful microorganisms for feed additive or as various CE (competitive exclusion) preparations. Some of these microorganisms are commercially available as feed additive viable microorganism preparations for poultry. However, although the effects are recognized to some extent, they are not sufficient. Particularly, no means has been reported which can carry out drug-free feeding of poultry in dense rearing, with a large number of poultry, and with productivity at a commercially acceptable level by providing these viable microorganism preparations.
For example, Japanese Registered Patent No. 2528055 and JP-B-3-79988 (the term “JP-B” as used herein means an “examined Japanese patent application”) disclose that body weight gain and feed conversion ratios in animals can be improved and effects, such as intestinal function controlling action and the like, can be obtained by administering a viable microorganism preparation comprising
Bacillus subtilis
to animals. It is possible to carry out drug-free feeding by applying the means to, for example, broilers, but only in a certain limited regions where broilers are not produced on a large scale. However, in many regions where broiler feeding is frequently carried out, since they are often infected with toxic bacteria which spread easily through the feeding facilities as described above, it is extremely difficult to carry out commercial drug-free feeding of broilers using this means. Also, even if drug-free feeding of broilers using this means were possible, the body weight gain rate of the poultry is slower than feeding using medicaments. As a result, the high productivity of the drug-applied feeding is not obtained.
In addition, the viable microorganism preparations currently on the market have problems, such as the reduction of the viable count during the distribution steps, the poor colonization ability after the formation of intestinal bacterial flora, the necessity for the continued administration of the viable microorganism preparations for a prolonged period of time, and the like. Particularly, the necessity for the continued administration of the viable microorganism preparations for a prolonged period of time, due to the poor colonization ability after the formation of intestinal bacterial flora, is presently a serious obstacle to the practical use from the viewpoints of economics.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for administrating viable microorganism compositions to poultry, so that drug-free feeding of poultry can be carried while maintaining good productivity.
For resolving the above-mentioned problems, the inventors of the present invention have carried out screening of useful bacteria from broad natural sources, and have found that certain lactic acid bacteria isolated from the intestinal tract of a chicken can be easily colonized in the intestinal tract of newborn chickens shortly after hatching. Also, the inventors have found that particularly a heterofermentation lactic acid bacterium isolated from the ileum of a chicken and a homofermentation lactic acid bacterium isolated from the cecum of a chicken can easily be colonized on the intestinal tract of newborn fledglings and have various effects, such as inhibition of the growth of toxic bacteria, prevention of diarrhea, enhancement of growth, improvement of the rate of raising, improvement of the feed conversion ratios and the like. In addition, the inventors have found that lactic acid bacteria can be colonized on the intestinal tract of newborn chicks soon after their birth by merely spraying a suspension of viable microorganisms of these lactic acid bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus only once to newborn chicks within 4 days after hatching.
Furthermore, the inventors have found that, when useful lactic acid bacteria are colonized in combination with the administration of
Bacillus subtilis
viable microorganisms during a period from the fledgling stage to the mature bird state in the drug-fr
Maruta Kiyoshi
Miyazaki Hiroshi
Calpis Co., LTD
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Patten Patricia D
Weber Jon P.
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