participants worked together pre-competitively. Until now, that has continued to be the case, says Mr Parker, and is the secret to the success of reduction in the UK. “The various share data between each other, there’s a lot of cooperative work going on within the BPC membership which in my view has driven the changes that we’ve seen.” The latest report released by the BPC reveals just how suc- cessful the initiative has been. Between 2012 and 2017 us- age was down 82% – and the industry managed a 40% re- duction between 2016-2017 alone. Considering fluoroquinolones in isolation, then their use was down 91%. Achieving this reduction has been about ensuring good chick quality, a good environment for birds that is disease free and good quality feed, according to Mr Parker. “Unfor- tunately, in reality it’s not always that easy to achieve those outcomes,” he explains. One major help, however, has been biomass boilers – and specifically indirect heating – which warm sheds without introducing moisture.
Indirect heat “Historically you had a heater in the house producing Co2
22 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 2, 2019 and water, once that water is in there your biggest job is trying to
get that water out of the house. In my view, taking out that early moisture has transformed poultry production in this country – there is better litter quality, coccidiosis control and ultimately better gut health.” In addition, says Mr Parker, there has been investment in new housing, with better insulation and temperature control. But despite the successes, there are still health challenges on farms, and medicines need to remain available to treat them, he says. “There’s an awful lot of chickens out there that don’t get treated, those farms that do need medicating get target- ed.” On his own practice, record keeping is a key part of the reduction strategy, with codified records of which treatments are recommended based on the diagnoses.
Health issues The main issues found on farms in this post-antimicrobial en- vironment are relating to chick quality, leg health and a fur- ther 10% is some form of enteric disorder. With chick quality, it is mainly early infections, and the dramatic reduction in routine antibiotic use has seen overall mortality increase to about 1.7%, as opposed to about 1% when prophylactic treatments were more common.
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