Addressing therapeutic challenges in poultry production, with particular emphasis on free-range and organic systems: The potential of controlled-release delivery systems (CRDS)

The global human population is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, placing an unprecedented burden on food systems and amplifying the need for sustainable poultry production. Free-range and organic poultry farming are gaining popularity due to consumer demand for animal welfare and environmental sustainability. However, these systems present unique challenges with regard to therapeutic strategies, bioactive environmental exposure and their degradation. Long-acting therapeutic strategies are needed to minimize chicken handling and stress, while also ensuring therapeutic efficiency in open environments. Controlled-release delivery systems (CRDS) offer significant potential to address these challenges by prolonging therapeutic activity, protecting bioactive from environmental degradation, and reducing labor and animal stress. CRDS can enable efficient delivery of drugs, vaccines, botanicals and probiotics. Despite these advantages, implementing controlled-release technologies in free-range and organic settings is a complex process and presents many challenges. We investigated the current state of CRDS for small molecules, vaccines, plant botanicals, and probiotics, highlighting key challenges and future prospects for their application in the evolving poultry industry.