The power of yeast postbiotics in poultry gut health

With disease pressure a constant challenge in modern poultry systems, maintaining bird health is key to sustainable, profitable production. Georgina Phillips explains how yeast-derived postbiotics can help protect gut integrity, support immune function and reduce reliance on antibiotics – strengthening flock resilience from the inside out.

Global demand for poultry products has grown significantly in recent decades and is expected to rise further with population growth. As a result, the industry faces mounting pressure to meet this demand sustainably and profitably, while meeting consumer expectations around animal welfare and reducing antimicrobial use. 
Achieving all of this at farm level remains a significant challenge. 

Although modern poultry management allows very efficient production, birds can be left highly susceptible to various bacterial diseases. While biosecurity and vaccination protocols form the basis of pathogen control, there are nutritional strategies that producers should consider to help prevent disease, keeping flocks healthier and requiring less veterinary intervention.

Yeast-derived postbiotics offer a powerful tool to harness the natural resources of microbes to support bird resilience and performance, as well as profits.

Protecting the gut from pathogens

Common pathogens in poultry production like E. coli and Salmonella can adhere to and significantly damage the gut lining, leading to disease and reducing the bird’s ability to digest and absorb nutrients.

This is important because efficient production – whether in layers, broilers or turkeys – depends on each bird making the most efficient use of feed. This in turn requires good gut integrity, with intact and functional epithelial cells lining the intestines.

Alpha-mannans have a strong binding affinity for the fimbriae (hair-like structures) on pathogenic, gram-negative bacteria, allowing their removal from the bird’s digestive tract and preventing colonisation.

Postbiotics further protect the gut lining by maintaining healthy epithelial cells, helping to regulate the production of gut mucus which acts as a physical barrier to pathogens.

Enhancing the immune response following vaccination

The gut is not just responsible for feed digestion and nutrient absorption - more than 70% of immune cells are synthesised here. The activity of these immune cells ultimately dictates a bird’s health status – the more active the immune system, the better resilience against pathogens.

Postbiotics are also known to contain high levels of β-glucans which effectively prime the immune system to be stronger and more effective when encountering pathogens without triggering excessive inflammation.

Important immune cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages, possess receptors which recognise β-glucans present in lymphatic tissue along the digestive tract. This recognition enables a faster reaction of the adaptive immune system against antigens, whether derived from pathogenic bacteria in the environment or administered via vaccination.

This results in a better response to vaccines, with increased production of antibodies against the target disease. This means producers can take advantage of postbiotics to get the most protection possible out of their routine vaccination program.

Postbiotics like Safmannan^® represent a powerful, natural solution for disease prevention in modern poultry farming. 

By prioritising gut health through pathogen control and immune support, we can optimise bird health status and improve overall lifetime productivity. This allows us to continue sustainably improving important performance metrics on farm, even without the use of antibiotics.