A local company hopes to put Malaysia on the global map by producing what it claims to be Asia's first antibiotic-free chicken eggs, reports The Star of Malaysia.

Luheng Agriculture Technology Sdn Bhd representative, Chow Khay Hoong, said they had come up with a breakthrough formula using a concoction of herbs in place of antibiotics to prevent infectious diseases among chickens.

He said it took them two years of research with assistance from their business partners – Beijing Beinong Luheng Sci-Tech Development Co Ltd and China Agricultural University – to produce the powdered herbs using six types of herbal plants.

"Apart from boosting the chicken's immune system, the herbs can also help revitalise their reproductive organs and improve their digestive system," he told The Star after a media visit to the Beijing institute where the research was conducted.

Mr Chow admitted that such herbs had been in existence for more than 10 years in China but claimed they had not been used in chickens in place of antibiotics.

He said the Malaysian team conducted extensive research into the herbs and came up with the formula to combine some of the herbs capable of replacing the use of antibiotics.

Mr Chow said they were prepared to share their expertise with poultry farmers who were keen to use the herbs in their chicken feed based on certain quality control guidelines.

He said the herbal concoction had been informally introduced to a few layer farms (for egg production) in the country, where the herbs were mixed with regular chicken feed.

He said the SHH Poultry Farm, for instance, was gradually replacing its layer chicken stocks with those fed on antibiotic-free feed since Luheng introduced the herbs to the operator.

With assistance from Luheng's support team, he said, the 20-year-old farm in Kampung Changkat Dain, Sungai Bakap in South Seberang Prai, had now become a model farm for Luheng.

"A significant difference found in the chickens that consumed the herbs was that their droppings are dry and odourless, and so the farms are free of flies.

"The dry droppings can also be collected and used as fertilisers, unlike the regular chickens’ wet droppings that are usually washed down the drain," he told The Star.

The farm has some 500,000 layer chickens that can produce about 300,000 eggs a day.

State Veterinary Services Department director, Dr Wan Mohd Kamil Wan Nik, confirmed that Luheng was the first company that had requested the department to run an antibiotic scientific test on its eggs.