Bioavailable Nanocomposition of Chitosan-copper Nanoparticles as an Alternative to Antibiotics in BroilerFeed

Pathogens pose a serious threat to agriculture as they reduce the growth rate and efficiency of farm birds, animals and cause economic losses. Therefore, there is a need for their use despite all the negative effects of antibiotics and bacterial resistance to them, and therefore, there is a need for effective alternatives that exclude the use of vaccines and drugs. An aggregatively stable nanocomposition of chitosan-nanoparticles of copper with an average size of the latter 25–30 nm was developed. The bactericidal effect of the nanocomposition was shown in vitro on pathogenic bacteria Enterococcus faecalis and investigated in vivo in the composition of broiler chickens’ drink and feed in comparison with antibiotic “Maxus”, used in their diet, on a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms. It was shown that the number of bacteria in broilers was 1.88% when the nanocomposition was administered, which is more than two times less compared to the group where the antibiotic was used.