The gut is the front line

Whoever colonises the gut
first sets the course.

0 of 0 Sites held by beneficial bacteria
0 Pathogens turned away
0 of 0 Villi fully secured
Bacteria drift through the gut and attach to the finger-like villi. Whichever group arrives first holds the attachment sites and blocks the other.
0 hours after hatching
  • Beneficial bacteria
  • Salmonella
  • Clostridium

A chick hatches with an almost empty gut.The first bacteria to settle there shape how the gut lining develops, how the immune system matures and which pathogens can find a place to attach.

The idea is 50 years old.In 1973, Nurmi and Rantala showed that day-old chicks given gut bacteria from healthy adult hens resisted Salmonella colonisation. This became known as competitive exclusion.