February 25, 2014

Kee Song proves successful rearing of chickens without antibiotic use

Kee Song Brothers Poultry is the first in Southeast Asia to prove that chickens can be successfully reared on a large scale without using antibiotics.

Kee Song conducted a study from May to August last year and invited six international companies in the food, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries to take part in an experiment involving the breeding of 180,000 chickens in its Johor farm to prove the success of the technology.

Results of the study showed that chickens which were bred using its own strains of lactobacillus - a good bacteria commonly used in the production of yoghurt and cheese - had a higher survival rate of 98-99% compared to chickens fed with antibiotics, which had a survival rate of 95%. The former were also less likely to suffer from diarrhoea.

Research has shown that some bacteria or 'superbugs' in these chickens fed by antibiotics will develop resistance to antibiotics in the long run, said Chia Tet Fatt, the scientist behind the technology.