The Poultry Site's Sarah Mikesell spoke with Dr. Bob Buresh, Technical Services Manager for North America for Novus International, at IPPE in Atlanta to discuss where gut health is headed.

"We realize the strong impact gut health has on all aspects of performance of the bird. It impacts the nutrient digestibility of the animal, the bacterial populations within the gut, and ultimately, the performance of the animal," said Dr. Buresh.

The prevalence of gut health issues has risen significantly due to the removal of medicated feed additives, he said. Novus has several product lines that can address the gut health issues within customers' flocks.

"We offer MINTREX chelated trace minerals, which help to strengthen the intestinal integrity of the animal and help to improve digestion. It keeps the good bacteria where they're supposed to be, and supports the integrity of the gut," he noted. "We also have SPORULIN, which is our probiotic, and it also helps to promote the development of good bacteria within the gut of the animal."

In addition to the products, Novus has developed Project Horizon, a customized approach to help customers in the transition to antibiotic-free (ABF) meat production.

"It's an effort we created and we're working on with producers. We have a Project Horizon team that meets with very specific customers, identifies challenges that are unique to each customer and then starts to develop solutions," said Dr. Buresh. "Some of those solutions are Novus products; some of the solutions are other interventions that the producer might look at using to help address their challenges."

Project Horizon is a long-term initiative that's measured by design - it takes time to develop the relationship as well as an understanding of what the root cause of the issues are within an operation.

"We've started to see some very good results with the producers we've been working with and really look forward to taking the program to the next set of producers," he noted. "This is a long-term commitment on our behalf as well as our customer. Ultimately, we hope the performance of the animal will answer for us."

Held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the 2018 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) brought together more than 30,000 poultry, meat and feed industry leaders from all over the world in attendance. In 2019, IPPE will be held Feb. 12-14.