Gut health is central to poultry welfare and performance. Understanding interventions beyond antibiotics that support digestive health informs better farming and consumer choice.
Gut health failures in poultry cause significant suffering. Coccidiosis at clinical levels causes intestinal damage, bloody diarrhea, weight loss, and severe discomfort. Necrotic enteritis is acutely painful, causing necrosis of intestinal tissue. Birds with gut disease experience weakness, reduced ability to compete for food and water, and progressive deterioration. The transition away from routine antibiotic use was welfare-positive in terms of reducing resistance but created a gap that must be filled by improved management and evidence-based alternatives. High-stocking-density systems with poor litter management create conditions where gut disease proliferates, making stocking density a welfare-relevant variable beyond space per bird.