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Mineral technology beneficial to gut health

Focusing on gut health in poultry is helping producers improve their bottom line.

Dr. Marc Hepfer, VP of New Technologies, with Oil-Dri Corporation of America. “With something like Phylox, our new product, based on a lot of field and farm scale and in vivo trials, as well as University and controlled studies, we’ve seen 1%, sometimes even higher, of an increase in feed conversion ratio,” he says. 

He tells Brownfield Phylox was launched in 2021 to help poultry producers fight coccidiosis, a disease found in birds and mammals that affects the intestines, with natural alternatives. Hepfer says an animal’s gastrointestinal tract can benefit from the right additives.  “It actually includes our base mineral,” he says.  “As well as other unique and natural phytochemicals, that specifically target the problem of coccidiosis in chicken.”

He explains how the single-sourced mineral technology works. “Issues are caused by an organism called Eimeria and our additives can specifically destroy or ice the cell wall of the Eimeria,” he says.  “That’s disrupting its life cycle so that it doesn’t cause a problem in the animal.”

Phylox was featured in the New Product Showcase at the recent International Production and Process Expo in Atlanta. 

AUDIO: Dr. Marc Hepfer, Oil-Dri Corporation