High Quality: How cannabis-fed chickens could help in weaning poultry off antibiotics

Researchers at Chiang Mai University have been studying the curious impact of feeding cannabis to chicken as farmers in Thailand have claimed it improved the quality of meat and eggs. According to The Guardian, academics at the university have been studying 1,000 chickens since last January at an organic farm in Lampang in the north of Thailand to see how the animals responded when cannabis was mixed into their feed or water. Where it all started As per a report by The Straits Times, Sirin Chaemthet, president of the Peth Lanna community enterprise, said that the experiment was conducted in cooperation with Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Agriculture. She said farmers opted for marijuana after their brood was found to be suffering from avian bronchitis despite being injected with antibiotics. The farmers found that when chickens were fed with cannabis, they developed higher immunity against diseases as well as were better able to withstand inclement weather. Upon consuming cannabis, the chickens developed higher immunity against disease and were able to withstand inclement weather. Eventually, the community enterprise decided to do away with antibiotics and only feed their chickens cannabis, she said. The impact The results are promising and suggest that cannabis could help reduce farmers’ dependence on antibiotics, according to Chompunut Lumsangkul, an assistant professor at Chiang Mai University’s department of animal and aquatic sciences, who led the study. As part of the study, Chompunut observed the chickens to measure the impact of cannabis on their growth, vulnerability to disease, and to check if the meat and eggs were of better quality. He said that the plant was given to chickens in varying intensities and in different forms such as water that was boiled with cannabis leaves, or a mixture of chicken feed and crushed cannabis leaves. The researchers did not observe any abnormal behaviour in the chickens. Even though the study’s results are yet to be published, Chompunut has observed positive signs in the chickens. Cannabis-supplemented chickens tended to experience fewer cases of avian bronchitis, and the quality of their meat – judged by the composition of protein, fat and moisture, as well as its tenderness – was also superior, The Guardian report said. Further studies required Even as there is no clarity why feeding cannabis has had positive effects on the chickens, Chompunut said that it is possible the bioactive compounds in the plant may have stimulated the chickens’ gut health, immunity and thereby enhanced their performance elsewhere. She said that further investigation is required to see if cannabis can replace antibiotics in chicken farming. For now, the researcher is planning a second study in which she will use higher intensity cannabis extracts to observe its impact on disease and fatality rates among the chickens. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.