In an initial study published in the November edition of the journal Animal Feed Science and Technology, replacing standard canola meal with canola meal treated with carbohydrase enzymes increased the digestibility of the diet and decreased the abundance of E. coli in the digestive tract without compromising the growth performance of broiler chickens. But while the research team had hoped to see an increase in digestibility, it was the shift in the chickens’ gut bacteria that could prove more exciting, said Anna Rogiewicz, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba and an author on the paper with lead author Yanxing Niu, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Manitoba.

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