Why are antibiotics used in intensive poultry farming?

In intensive poultry farming, antibiotics are utilized for both therapeutic and subtherapeutic purposes to manage the health and productivity of birds kept in high-density environments.123

• Therapeutic Use: Antibiotics are administered to control and treat specific bacterial infections within a flock. Because intensive farms are often ideal breeding grounds for pathogens due to animal crowding and the accumulation of waste, these drugs are essential for maintaining disease control.1423
• Prophylactic and Growth Promotion (Subtherapeutic): Antibiotics are frequently given in low doses to prevent the spread of common bacterial diseases and to enhance the growth and feed efficiency of the animals.124

While these practices help manage the challenges of industrial-scale production, they raise significant ethical and public health concerns. The widespread, casual use of antibiotics in animal agriculture is a primary driver of antibiotic resistance, which threatens the efficacy of medicine for both humans and animals. Ethical principles dictate that the health of the global population must be prioritized over the marginal gains in production efficiency, leading organizations like the World Health Organization to advocate for restricting the use of medically important antibiotics in food animals.24