Modulating the gut microbiome: strategies for improved poultry health and productivity

Optimizing gut health is essential for sustainable and efficient poultry production. The poultry gut microbiota, comprising fungi, bacteria, viruses, and archaea, plays key roles in nutrient digestion, immune modulation, and disease resistance. However, intensive farming, suboptimal diets, environmental stressors, and disease risks disrupt gut integrity and microbial balance, reducing productivity and welfare. This review synthesizes current understanding of poultry gut structure and function, emphasizing the microbiome, gut lining integrity, and digestive enzymes. It explores gut health assessment methods and discusses nutritional strategies such as probiotics, prebiotics, fermented feeds, and nutritional supplements to enhance gut health and feed efficiency. Management practices including biosecurity, stress reduction, and environmental control were examined. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, precision feeding, nanotechnology, and microbiome analysis offer personalized tools for nutrition and disease prevention. Despite significant progress, challenges persist due to microbiome variability and economic constraints. Integrating innovative nutritional, management, and technological approaches remains critical for advancing poultry gut health, productivity, and sustainability.