The Impact of Early-Life Cecal Microbiota Transplantation on Social Stress and Injurious Behaviors in Egg-Laying Chickens
- PMID: 38543522
- PMCID: PMC10972035
- DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12030471
The Impact of Early-Life Cecal Microbiota Transplantation on Social Stress and Injurious Behaviors in Egg-Laying Chickens
Abstract
Injurious behaviors (i.e., aggressive pecking, feather pecking, and cannibalism) in laying hens are a critical issue facing the egg industry due to increased social stress and related health and welfare issues as well as economic losses. In humans, stress-induced dysbiosis increases gut permeability, releasing various neuroactive factors, causing neuroinflammation and related neuropsychiatric disorders via the microbiota-gut-brain axis, and consequently increasing the frequency and intensity of aggression and violent behaviors. Restoration of the imbalanced gut microbial composition has become a novel treatment strategy for mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, impulsivity, and compulsivity. A similar function of modulating gut microbial composition following stress challenge may be present in egg-laying chickens. The avian cecum, as a multi-purpose organ, has the greatest bacterial biodiversity (bacterial diversity, richness, and species composition) along the gastrointestinal tract, with vitally important functions in maintaining physiological and behavioral homeostasis, especially during the periods of stress. To identify the effects of the gut microbiome on injurious behaviors in egg-laying chickens, we have designed and tested the effects of transferring cecal contents from two divergently selected inbred chicken lines on social stress and stress-related injurious behaviors in recipient chicks of a commercial layer strain. This article reports the outcomes from a multi-year study on the modification of gut microbiota composition to reduce injurious behaviors in egg-laying chickens. An important discovery of this corpus of experiments is that injurious behaviors in chickens can be reduced or inhibited through modifying the gut microbiota composition and brain serotonergic activities via the gut-brain axis, without donor-recipient genetic effects.
Keywords: aggression; cecal microbiota transplantation; gut microbiota; injurious behavior; laying hen; social stress.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Figures
![Figure 1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10972035/bin/microorganisms-12-00471-g001.gif)
![Figure 2](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10972035/bin/microorganisms-12-00471-g002.gif)
![Figure 3](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10972035/bin/microorganisms-12-00471-g003.gif)
![Figure 4](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10972035/bin/microorganisms-12-00471-g004.gif)
![Figure 5](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10972035/bin/microorganisms-12-00471-g005.gif)
![Figure 6](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10972035/bin/microorganisms-12-00471-g006.gif)
Similar articles
-
The Impact of Probiotic Bacillus subtilis on Injurious Behavior in Laying Hens.Animals (Basel). 2022 Mar 30;12(7):870. doi: 10.3390/ani12070870. Animals (Basel). 2022. PMID: 35405859 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Cecal microbiota transplantation: unique influence of cecal microbiota from divergently selected inbred donor lines on cecal microbial profile, serotonergic activity, and aggressive behavior of recipient chickens.J Anim Sci Biotechnol. 2023 May 2;14(1):66. doi: 10.1186/s40104-023-00866-9. J Anim Sci Biotechnol. 2023. PMID: 37127691 Free PMC article.
-
A role for plasma aromatic amino acids in injurious pecking behavior in laying hens.Physiol Behav. 2017 Jun 1;175:88-96. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.03.041. Epub 2017 Mar 30. Physiol Behav. 2017. PMID: 28365278
-
Effects of early-life cecal microbiota transplantation from divergently selected inbred chicken lines on growth, gut serotonin, and immune parameters in recipient chickens.Poult Sci. 2022 Jul;101(7):101925. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2022.101925. Epub 2022 Apr 22. Poult Sci. 2022. PMID: 35613492 Free PMC article.
-
Intestinal microbiota of layer hens and its association with egg quality and safety.Poult Sci. 2022 Sep;101(9):102008. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2022.102008. Epub 2022 Jun 11. Poult Sci. 2022. PMID: 35841638 Free PMC article. Review.
References
-
- USDA ERS (Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) Poultry and Eggs, Market Outlook. [(accessed on 30 November 2023)]; Available online: https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/poultry-eggs/market-outlook.
-
- Hagelso A.M., Krohn C.C. Quantifing social behavior of the individual. In: Hagelso A.M., editor. Animal Genetic Resources for Adaptation to More Extensive Production Systems. Commission of the European Communities; Foulum, Denmark: 1993.
-
- Muir W.M., Cheng H.W., Coney C. New selection methods for layer performance and potential impacts on behavior and management; Proceedings of the XIVth European Poultry Conference; Stavanger, Norway. 23–27 June 2014.
Publication types
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources