Gut Microbial Composition and Predicted Functions Are Not Associated with Feather Pecking and Antagonistic Behavior in Laying Hens

Borda-Molina, Daniel; Iffland, Hanna; Schmid, Markus; Müller, Regina Céli Sarkis; Schad, Svenja; Seifert, Jana; Tetens, Jens; Bessei, W.; Bennewitz, Jörn; Camarinha‐Silva, Amélia

doi:10.3390/life11030235

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In particular, there is an interest in how ingestion of these supplements in childhood or early-life can shape behaviour. The administration of a single Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain successfully prevented severe feather pecking (SFP) in adult laying hens 73 , possibly by restoring the lower abundance of Lactobacillus reported in SFP birds 50 , 51 , 71 . In the present study, we evaluate the ability of the same L. rhamnosus strain to act as a preventative measure against SFP when administered in early-life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

L. rhamnosus improves the immune response and tryptophan catabolism in laying hen pullets

Mindus

Staaveren

Fuchs

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In mammals, early-life probiotic supplementation is a promising tool for preventing unfavourable, gut microbiome-related behavioural, immunological, and aromatic amino acid alterations later in life. In laying hens, feather-pecking behaviour is proposed to be a consequence of gut-brain axis dysregulation. Lactobacillus rhamnosus decreases stress-induced severe feather pecking in adult hens, but whether its effect in pullets is more robust is unknown. Consequently, we investigated whether early-life, oral supplementation with a single Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain can prevent stress-induced feather-pecking behaviour in chickens. To this end, we monitored both the short- and long-term effects of the probiotic supplement on behaviour and related physiological parameters. We hypothesized that L. rhamnosus would reduce pecking behaviour by modulating the biological pathways associated with this detrimental behaviour, namely aromatic amino acid turnover linked to neurotransmitter production and stress-related immune responses. We report that stress decreased the proportion of cytotoxic T cells in the tonsils (P = 0.047). Counteracting this T cell depression, birds receiving the L. rhamnosus supplementation significantly increased all T lymphocyte subset proportions (P < 0.05). Both phenotypic and genotypic feather peckers had lower plasma tryptophan concentrations compared to their non-pecking counterparts. The probiotic supplement caused a short-term increase in plasma tryptophan (P < 0.001) and the TRP:(PHE + TYR) ratio (P < 0.001). The administration of stressors did not significantly increase feather pecking in pullets, an observation consistent with the age-dependent onset of pecking behaviour. Despite minimal changes to behaviour, our data demonstrate the impact of L. rhamnosus supplementation on the immune system and the turnover of the serotonin precursor tryptophan. Our findings indicate that L. rhamnosus exerts a transient, beneficial effect on the immune response and tryptophan catabolism in pullets.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Lactobacillus genus is significantly underrepresented in the cecal droppings of feather peckers 50 , 51 , 71 . Furthermore, L. rhamnosus has been demonstrated to attenuate behavioural deficits induced by chronic social stress in mice 72 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

L. rhamnosus improves the immune response and tryptophan catabolism in laying hen pullets

Mindus

Staaveren

Fuchs

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Microbiota populations, their diversity, and composition varied in hens with different diet compositions (Borrelli et al, 2017;Zhou et al, 2021). There is also some evidence that microbiota composition can vary among groups of hens selected for behavioral differences in feather pecking (van der Eijk et al, 2019), although other studies have not found significant differences (Borda-Molina et al, 2021). Housing environments can affect microbial composition with differences found between broiler chickens that had fresh or reused litter on the floor (Wang et al, 2016), or different types of litter substrates (Torok et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cecal Microbiota of Free-Range Hens Varied With Different Rearing Enrichments and Ranging Patterns

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Free-range pullets are reared indoors but the adult hens can go outside which is a mismatch that may reduce adaptation in the laying environment. Rearing enrichments might enhance pullet development and adaptations to subsequent free-range housing with impact on behavior and health measures including gut microbiota. Adult free-range hens vary in range use which may also be associated with microbiota composition. A total of 1,700 Hy-Line Brown® chicks were reared indoors across 16 weeks with three enrichment treatment groups: “control” with standard litter housing, “novelty” with weekly changed novel objects, and “structural” with custom-designed perching structures in the pens. At 15 weeks, 45 pullet cecal contents were sampled before moving 1,386 pullets to the free-range housing system. At 25 weeks, range access commenced, and movements were tracked via radio-frequency identification technology. At 65 weeks, 91 hens were selected based on range use patterns (“indoor”: no ranging; “high outdoor”: daily ranging) across all rearing enrichment groups and cecal contents were collected for microbiota analysis via 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing at V3-V4 regions. The most common bacteria in pullets were unclassified Barnesiellaceae, Prevotella, Blautia and Clostridium and in hens Unclassified, Ruminococcus, unclassified Lachnospiraceae, unclassified Bacteroidales, unclassified Paraprevotellaceae YRC22, and Blautia. The microbial alpha diversity was not significant within the enrichment/ranging groups (pullets: P ≥ 0.17, hen rearing enrichment groups: P ≥ 0.06, hen ranging groups: P ≥ 0.54), but beta diversity significantly varied between these groups (pullets: P ≤ 0.002, hen rearing enrichment groups: P ≤ 0.001, hen ranging groups: P ≤ 0.008). Among the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the propionic acid content was higher (P = 0.03) in the novelty group of pullets than the control group. There were no other significant differences in the SCFA contents between the rearing enrichment groups (all P ≥ 0.10), and the ranging groups (all P ≥ 0.17). Most of the genera identified were more abundant in the indoor than high outdoor hens. Overall, rearing enrichments affected the cecal microbiota diversity of both pullets and adult hens and was able to distinguish hens that remained inside compared with hens that ranging daily for several hours.

show abstract

“…Although Borda-Molina et al did not find any relations between microbiota and feather pecking [72], there is growing evidence that gut microbiota influence hens behaviour and physiology [73,74]. However, whether microbiota can influence the development of feather pecking is not fully demonstrated [74,75].…”

Section: Main Causes Of Damaging Behaviour and Control Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Relationships between Damaging Behaviours and Health in Laying Hens

Michel

Berk

Bozakova

et al. 2022

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since the ban in January 2012 of conventional cages for egg production in the European Union (Council Directive 1999/74/EC), alternative systems such as floor, aviary, free-range, and organic systems have become increasingly common, reaching 50% of housing for hens in 2019. Despite the many advantages associated with non-cage systems, the shift to a housing system where laying hens are kept in larger groups and more complex environments has given rise to new challenges related to management, health, and welfare. This review examines the close relationships between damaging behaviours and health in modern husbandry systems for laying hens. These new housing conditions increase social interactions between animals. In cases of suboptimal rearing and/or housing and management conditions, damaging behaviour or infectious diseases are likely to spread to the whole flock. Additionally, health issues, and therefore stimulation of the immune system, may lead to the development of damaging behaviours, which in turn may result in impaired body conditions, leading to health and welfare issues. This raises the need to monitor both behaviour and health of laying hens in order to intervene as quickly as possible to preserve both the welfare and health of the animals.

show abstract

Gut Microbial Composition and Predicted Functions Are Not Associated with Feather Pecking and Antagonistic Behavior in Laying Hens

Cited by 13 publications

References 58 publications

L. rhamnosus improves the immune response and tryptophan catabolism in laying hen pullets

L. rhamnosus improves the immune response and tryptophan catabolism in laying hen pullets

Cecal Microbiota of Free-Range Hens Varied With Different Rearing Enrichments and Ranging Patterns

The Relationships between Damaging Behaviours and Health in Laying Hens

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About