In this blog, we're going to address our most popular commercial poultry products: Big Ole Bird and Litter Life. These products have a few similarities, including their secret ingredient. This ingredient is called fulvic acid.
What's the secret ingredient?
From our favorite barbecue sauces to mom's famous cupcakes, we love to find out the secret ingredient. It's kind of human nature- our desire to know why something is so different and special.
We've heard Big Ole Bird and Litter Life called snake oil in the past. We really chalk this up to a lack of understanding on what the product does. Today, we're going to give you the science that shows how these products work and that they're really not snake oil.
Fulvic Acid
Before the antibiotic free environment, people were really suspicious of probiotics. But these days you'd be hard pressed to find an integrator who doesn't use them.
We have 14 beneficial bacterial strains in Litter Life and Big Ole Bird, but the real secret ingredient is humic acid. Fulvic acid is a part of humic acids, and they are sometimes used interchangeably. We'll use them interchangeably on this blog.
With a quick Google search of "fulvic acid," you'll see that fulvic mineral supplements and ionic trace minerals are used fairly often in products for humans. Fulvic acids are used in plenty of beauty and health products, but is a bit less common in an agriculture application. However, the trace minerals in humic and fulvic acids apply to poultry in a pretty similar way that they apply to humans.
Fulvic and Humic Acids for Poultry
One of the main reasons fulvic acid is so powerful is that it has a low molecular weight. This means 3 things:
Cell Wall Permeation
On a very basic level, many cells' main job is to take in nutrients and dispose of waste. Fulvic acid allows cell wall to be permeated, meaning cells can do their jobs a bit more efficiently.
When cells work more efficiently, nutrient absorption and retention improves. That means fulvic acid helps with a better feed conversion!
Oxygenation
Every atom of fulvic acid is highly oxygenated. This means it can break down biofilm and water surface tension. In a poultry house, this means that it oxygenates the floor at a molecular level.
To compost a house floor you need carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. You know that your house already has nitrogen in it from waste, and the floor bedding provides some carbon. But often times, we miss that third element: Oxygen. Fulvic acid provides this oxygen so the floor can dry. Plus, it breaks the surface tension of water, so moisture in your house floor evaporates more quickly with fulvic acid.
Probiotic Activity
Although fulvic acid is not a prebiotic, it has been shown to stimulate probiotic activity. Probiotics then help boost immune system and overall health of your birds.
Big Ole Bird
Big Ole Bird is our keystone product at Southland Organics. It's a poultry probiotic that strengthens birds' immune system, improves digestion and has been shown to increase flock weights and decrease mortality.
With fulvic acid liquid in it, this liquid supplement can help the absorption of vitamins and nutrients in feed.
Litter Life
Litter Life is another huge product for us- our first poultry product to go on the market, in fact! Litter Life is designed to be sprayed on poultry house floors. This is the product that provides that oxygen element to the floor bedding compost formula.
One note about our products is that they're not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, but instead to strengthen the healthy functions of the body. The goal is that devastating disease is less likely and healthier, more successful flock is more likely.
Fulvic Acid Benefits
Fulvic acid and its trace minerals may help energy production, muscle endurance, enzyme activity and pH balance, all while having no harmful chemicals or toxins. It may also reduce inflammation, one of the elements of a boosted immune system.
According to Healthline, "Test-tube and animal studies show that fulvic acid may improve disease resistance, increase your immune defenses, fight inflammation, and enhance antioxidant activity — all of which may bolster immune health."
Fulvic acid has also been linked to lowering cholesterol, improving muscle strength and having anticancer properties. These are all general benefits of fulvic acid that apply to humans, so you can see why they would improve poultry health as well!
Fulvic acid is an organic substance- this does not mean that it's certified organic. There's a difference! It's organic in that it is made up of organic matter, a naturally occurring compound in soil and breakdown of organic matter. However, Big Ole Bird and Litter Life are both certified organic products.
Ionic Trace Minerals
One part of fulvic minerals that many people tout is ionic trace minerals. Although Southland Organics does not make any claims about ionic trace minerals, we'll share a little bit about what other people say about them just so you have some context.
Ionic minerals create tiny electrical impulses that allow your muscles and organs to function. Many people claim that ionic mineral deficiencies are widespread, and therefore take supplements for improved bodily functions. Many fulvic acid products like these have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Maybe you should try some fulvic acid yourself! We're not saying you should drink Big Ole Bird, but you can do your own research on fulvic acid as a supplement for humans. Some people say fulvic acid has a concentrated mineral flavor, but luckily your birds don't mind the taste at all.
Got Questions?
If you have any questions about fulvic acid or our products, please reach out! You can email allen@southlandorganics.com or call 800-608-3755.
