The effect of discontinuing the use of antimicrobial growth promoters on the productivity in the Danish broiler production.

On 15 February 1998, the Danish poultry industry voluntarily decided to discontinue the use of all antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs). To investigate how the removal of AGPs influenced the broiler productivity in Denmark, data from 6815 flocks collected from November 1995 to July 1999 by the Danish Poultry Council were analysed. The three flock parameters were: kilogram broilers produced per square meter (per rotation), feed-conversion ratio (total kilogram feed used per rotation/total kilogram live weight per rotation) and total percent dead broilers ((number of dead broilers during the rotation/number of broilers put in the house per rotation)x100). Data were analysed using a mixed model, allowing the correlation structures in the data to be taken into account. The analyses showed that kilogram broilers produced per square meter and percent dead broilers in total were not affected by the discontinued use of AGPs. However, the feed-conversion ratio increased marginally 0.016 kg/kg and has remained at this level throughout the rest of the study period.