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Akram MZ, Sureda EA, Comer L, Corion M, Everaert N. Assessing the impact of hatching system and body weight on the growth performance, caecal short-chain fatty acids, and microbiota composition and functionality in broilers. Anim Microbiome 2024; 6:41. [PMID: 39049129 PMCID: PMC11271025 DOI: 10.1186/s42523-024-00331-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Variations in body weight (BW) remain a significant challenge within broiler flocks, despite uniform management practices. Chicken growth traits are influenced by gut microbiota, which are in turn shaped by early-life events like different hatching environments and timing of first feeding. Chicks hatched in hatcheries (HH) experience prolonged feed deprivation, which could adversely impact early microbiota colonization. Conversely, hatching on-farm (HOF) allows early feeding, potentially fostering a more favorable gut environment for beneficial microbial establishment. This study investigates whether BW differences among broilers are linked to the disparities in gut microbiota characteristics and whether hatching systems (HS) impact the initial microbial colonization of broilers differing in BW, which in turn affects their growth patterns. Male Ross-308 chicks, either hatched in a hatchery or on-farm, were categorized into low (LBW) and high (HBW) BW groups on day 7, making a two-factorial design (HS × BW). Production parameters were recorded periodically. On days 7, 14, and 38, cecal volatile fatty acid (VFA) and microbiota composition and function (using 16 S rRNA gene sequencing and PICRUSt2) were examined. RESULTS HOF chicks had higher day 1 BW, but HH chicks caught up within first week, with no further HS-related performance differences. The HBW chicks remained heavier attributed to higher feed intake rather than improved feed efficiency. HBW group had higher acetate concentration on day 14, while LBW group exhibited higher isocaproate on day 7 and isobutyrate on days 14 and 38. Microbiota analyses revealed diversity and composition were primarily influenced by BW than by HS, with HS having minimal impact on BW-related microbiota. The HBW group on various growth stages was enriched in VFA-producing bacteria like unclassified Lachnospiraceae, Alistipes and Faecalibacterium, while the LBW group had higher abundances of Lactobacillus, Akkermansia and Escherichia-Shigella. HBW microbiota presented higher predicted functional potential compared to the LBW group, with early colonizers exhibiting greater metabolic activity than late colonizers. CONCLUSIONS Despite differences in hatching conditions, the effects of HS on broiler performance were transient, and barely impacting BW-related microbiota. BW variations among broilers are likely linked to differences in feed intake, VFA profiles, and distinct microbiota compositions and functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Zeeshan Akram
- Nutrition and Animal-Microbiota Ecosystems Laboratory, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Heverlee, 3000, Belgium
- Precision Livestock and Nutrition Laboratory, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, University of Liège, Gembloux, B-5030, Belgium
| | - Ester Arévalo Sureda
- Nutrition and Animal-Microbiota Ecosystems Laboratory, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Heverlee, 3000, Belgium
| | - Luke Comer
- Nutrition and Animal-Microbiota Ecosystems Laboratory, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Heverlee, 3000, Belgium
| | - Matthias Corion
- Nutrition and Animal-Microbiota Ecosystems Laboratory, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Heverlee, 3000, Belgium
| | - Nadia Everaert
- Nutrition and Animal-Microbiota Ecosystems Laboratory, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Heverlee, 3000, Belgium.
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Colditz IG, Campbell DLM, Ingham AB, Lee C. Review: Environmental enrichment builds functional capacity and improves resilience as an aspect of positive welfare in production animals. Animal 2024; 18:101173. [PMID: 38761442 DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2024.101173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The success of the animal in coping with challenges, and in harnessing opportunities to thrive, is central to its welfare. Functional capacity describes the capacity of molecules, cells, organs, body systems, the whole animal, and its community to buffer against the impacts of environmental perturbations. This buffering capacity determines the ability of the animal to maintain or regain functions in the face of environmental perturbations, which is recognised as resilience. The accuracy of physiological regulation and the maintenance of homeostatic balance underwrite the dynamic stability of outcomes such as biorhythms, feed intake, growth, milk yield, and egg production justifying their assessment as indicators of resilience. This narrative review examines the influence of environmental enrichments, especially during developmental stages in young animals, in building functional capacity and in its subsequent expression as resilience. Experience of enriched environments can build skills and competencies across multiple functional domains including but not limited to behaviour, immunity, and metabolism thereby increasing functional capacity and facilitating resilience within the context of challenges such as husbandry practices, social change, and infection. A quantitative method for measuring the distributed property of functional capacity may improve its assessment. Methods for analysing embedded energy (emergy) in ecosystems may have utility for this goal. We suggest functional capacity provides the common thread that links environmental enrichments with an ability to express resilience and may provide a novel and useful framework for measuring and reporting resilience. We conclude that the development of functional capacity and its subsequent expression as resilience is an aspect of positive animal welfare. The emergence of resilience from system dynamics highlights a need to shift from the study of physical and mental states to the study of physical and mental dynamics to describe the positive dimension of animal welfare.
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Affiliation(s)
- I G Colditz
- Agriculture and Food, CSIRO, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.
| | - D L M Campbell
- Agriculture and Food, CSIRO, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia
| | - A B Ingham
- Agriculture and Food, CSIRO, St. Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia
| | - C Lee
- Agriculture and Food, CSIRO, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia
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Such N, Schermann K, Pál L, Menyhárt L, Farkas V, Csitári G, Kiss B, Tewelde KG, Dublecz K. The Hatching Time of Broiler Chickens Modifies Not Only the Production Traits but Also the Early Bacteriota Development of the Ceca. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:2712. [PMID: 37684976 PMCID: PMC10487082 DOI: 10.3390/ani13172712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
This trial was carried out to find out the effects of the parent flock and hatching time of broiler chickens on the production traits and bacteriota development of animals. Two sets of 730 hatching eggs were collected from two different parent flocks with ages of 25 and 50 weeks. In the hatchery, both groups were divided into two subgroups: those hatched during the first 10 and the subsequent 10 h of the hatching window. A feeding trial was carried out afterwards, using the four treatments in six replicate floor pens and feeding commercial starter, grower, and finisher diets that contained all the nutrients according to the breeder's recommendations. The day-old chickens of the older parent flock and those hatched later were heavier, and this advantage remained until the end of the production period. The different ages and origins of the parent flocks failed to modify the microbiological parameters of the chicken's ceca; however, the hatching time significantly influenced the different bacteriota diversity indices: the late-hatched chickens showed higher Bacteroidetes and lower Firmicutes and Actinobacteria abundances at day 11. These treatments resulted in differences in the main families, Ruminococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, and Bacteroidaceae. These differences could not be found at day 39.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikoletta Such
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
| | - Kornél Schermann
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
| | - László Pál
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
| | - László Menyhárt
- Institute of Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary;
| | - Valéria Farkas
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
| | - Gábor Csitári
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
| | - Brigitta Kiss
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
| | - Kesete Goitom Tewelde
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
| | - Károly Dublecz
- Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc Street 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary; (N.S.); (K.S.); (L.P.); (V.F.); (G.C.); (B.K.); (K.G.T.)
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Jacobs L, Blatchford RA, de Jong IC, Erasmus MA, Levengood M, Newberry RC, Regmi P, Riber AB, Weimer SL. Enhancing their quality of life: environmental enrichment for poultry. Poult Sci 2022; 102:102233. [PMID: 36351344 PMCID: PMC9647224 DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2022.102233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Providing environmental enrichments that increase environmental complexity can benefit poultry welfare. This Poultry Science Association symposium paper is structured around four themes on 1) poultry preferences and affective states 2) species-specific behavior, including play behavior and the relationship between behavior, activity level and walking ability, 3) environmental enrichment and its relationship with indicators of welfare, and 4) a case study focusing on the application of enrichments in commercial broiler chicken production. For effective enrichment strategies, the birds' perspective matters most, and we need to consider individual variation, social dynamics, and previous experience when assessing these strategies. Play behavior can be a valuable indicator of positive affect, and while we do not yet know how much play would be optimal, absence of play suggests a welfare deficit. Activity levels and behavior can be improved by environmental modifications and prior research has shown that the activity level of broilers can be increased, at least temporarily, by increasing the environmental complexity. However, more research on impacts of enrichments on birds' resilience, on birds in commercial conditions, and on slow(er)-growing strains is needed. Finally, incorporating farmers' expertise can greatly benefit enrichment design and implementation on commercial farms.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Jacobs
- School of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
| | - R A Blatchford
- Department of Animal Science, Center for Animal Welfare, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - I C de Jong
- Wageningen Livestock Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - M A Erasmus
- Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IA, USA
| | | | - R C Newberry
- Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - P Regmi
- Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - A B Riber
- Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - S L Weimer
- Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
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