Antibiotic-free chicken farming technology in Singapore.

Kee Song Brothers Poultry of Singapore has become the first company in Southeast Asia to successfully raise chickens on a large scale without using antibiotics.

To demonstrate the success of this technology, Kee Song conducted a study from May to August 2013 and invited six international companies in the food, agriculture, and pharmaceutical sectors to participate in a trial raising 180,000 chickens at the company's farm in Johor state, Malaysia.

The study results showed that chickens fed a special type of lactic acid bacteria, commonly used in yogurt and cheese production, had a survival rate of 98 to 99% compared to chickens given antibiotics (95%). Chickens raised by Kee Song also suffered less from diarrhea.

Although antibiotics are widely used in poultry farms to help chickens build up resistance, research shows that some types of bacteria or "superbugs" in chickens can develop antibiotic resistance in the long term, according to Dr. Chia Tet Fatt, the author of the new technology.

This technology was jointly researched and developed by Kee Song Brothers Poultry and Otemchi Biotechnologies, a company specializing in research on lactic acid bacteria technology.

Dr. Chia, who is also the Director of Otemchi Biotechnologies, said, "We want to completely eliminate the use of antibiotics not only to help the chickens be healthier but also to protect the workers, who would be the first to get infected (if bacteria appear) because they work on the farms."

Kee Song now sells chickens raised on lactic acid bacteria on its company website. The cordyceps-infused chicken product is being sold in many supermarkets and is claimed to help boost the immune system.

According to Vietnamplus