Giving Chickens Bacteria ... To Keep Them Antibiotic-Free

You know those foods and pills that promise to supply your body with "good bacteria?"

They may or may not make you healthier, but some of these "probiotics" do, in fact, appear to be effective in chickens. Poultry companies are turning to probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics, which have become increasingly controversial.

"As we took antibiotics out of the feed, we put some other things in, such as probiotics," says Bruce Stewart-Brown, an executive at Perdue Farms. "We've increased the amount of probiotics by five times over the past five years. It's a significant part of our program."

Poultry companies have fed antibiotics to their chickens to fight off disease, and also to make them grow faster. Public health advocates have been pushing for an end to this practice, saying that it can lead to the emergence of more antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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