Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology

Gut health has become a central pillar of modern poultry production due to its direct influence on nutrient utilisation, immune competence, productivity, welfare and flock resilience. In broilers, efficient intestinal function is closely associated with growth rate, feed conversion ratio, carcass yield, and resistance to enteric disorders, whereas in layers and breeders it contributes to persistency of lay, egg quality, reproductive efficiency and longevity. The poultry gastrointestinal tract is a highly dynamic biological system composed of epithelial tissues, digestive secretions, mucosal immunity and a complex microbial ecosystem, which collectively regulate host metabolism and defence. Disturbance of this integrated system through nutritional imbalances, environmental stress, pathogenic challenge, heat stress, mycotoxins or management errors may result in dysbiosis, impaired barrier integrity, inflammation, wet litter and substantial economic losses. Recent research has emphasised the importance of measurable gut health indicators such as villus height, crypt depth, villus height-to-crypt depth ratio, goblet cell activity, microbial diversity, total bacterial count, coliform load and clostridial proliferation. These biomarkers are increasingly used to evaluate the efficacy of nutritional interventions in poultry systems. Concurrently, global restrictions on antibiotic growth promoters have accelerated the adoption of non-antibiotic gut health strategies including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, organic acids, enzymes, phytogenic compounds and precision feeding approaches. This review critically examines recent advances in poultry gut health with particular emphasis on intestinal morphometry, microbial ecology, nutritional modulation and practical implications for sustainable broiler and layer production. Emerging opportunities involving microbiome engineering, genomic technologies and precision nutrition are also discussed.