Are antibiotics used to promote growth?

Many antibiotics have been misnamed “growth promotants”. This highlights one of the challenges facing the chicken industry, misinformation. Antibiotics do reduce mortality and morbidity and increase the health of the gut microflora – which helps birds stay healthy and continue to grow. The amount of use that is at growth promotion levels is extremely low, and the chicken industry is working with government to completely remove growth promotion claims from medically important antibiotics by the end of 2018. It is also important to point out that “growth promotants” do not refer to hormones. The use of hormones in chicken production has been illegal in Canada since the 1960s.