The Use of Probiotics in Nutrition and Disease Prevention in Farm Animals

Abstract

Probiotics may be effectively used particularly in modulation of the gastrointestinal ecosystem, digestive processes, and in the prevention and therapy of digestive tract diseases in young farm animals. The data concerning the efficacy of probiotics in the prevention of diarrheal diseases in young animals are contradictory. For fur-bearing animals, probiotics are mostly used for the prevention of intestinal diseases that cause the highest loses at farms due to higher mortality, growth delay, and lower pelt quality. Probiotics in equine practice are used for the prevention of intestinal disorders, for the substitution of beneficial microbiota after or during antibiotic therapy, when horses are stressed, and often also for the prevention or therapy of reproductive problems in mares. Probiotics represent an effective alternative to synthetic substances in disease prevention and growth performance promotion, although it is challenging to achieve comparable efficacy. Probiotics could represent an effective and safe alternative to the use of synthetic substances, for example, antibiotics, in nutrition and medicine.