Source: AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE submitted to
PROBIOTIC, BACILLUS SUBTILIS, PREVENTS INJURIOUS BEHAVIORS AND INCREASES SKELETAL HEALTH IN LAYING HENS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1012507
Grant No.
2017-67015-26567
Cumulative Award Amt.
$500,000.00
Proposal No.
2016-09790
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 15, 2017
Project End Date
May 14, 2022
Grant Year
2017
Program Code
[A1251]- Animal Health and Production and Animal Products: Animal Well-Being
Project Director
Cheng, H.
Recipient Organization
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE
1815 N University
Peoria,IL 61604
Performing Department
Office of the Area Director
Non Technical Summary
This project works on prevention or alleviation of social stress in laying hens by developing an animal-friendly method. Social stress is a critical factor affecting hen health and welfare. Noted causes of hen illness and death are social stress-induced aggression leading to injurious pecking and cannibalism and stress-induced skeletal damage. These problems can occur in all egg production systems. Beak trimming, removal of 1/3 to 1/2 of the beak, is a common practice used for reducing social stress and preventing injurious behaviors. However, beak trimming causes tissue damage, exposing billion of hens to pain (acute, chronic or both) annually. An obvious solution is to develop alternative methods to safeguard hens' health and welfare during their lifespan, particularly considering the egg industry is moving to cage-free hosing environments. We hypothesize dietary supplementation of probiotics, good bacteria providing health benefits, is an alternative method to prevent injurious behavior and skeletal damage by repairing stress-disrupted functions of the intestinal microorganisms. In this study, chicks from an aggressive layer strain (trial 1), a former commercial strain, and one of the most popular egg layer strains in the United States (trial 2) will be used. The chicks will be assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: 1) non-beak trimmed chicks fed a regular diet, 2) beak trimmed chicks fed the regular diet, and 3) probiotic-treated chicks (non-beak trimmed chicks fed the regular diet mixed with 250 ppm of the probiotic). Hens will be evaluated for skeletal and foot health, feather quality, egg production traits, feed intake, causes of death, behavior, physiological responses, and gut microorganism changes. Economic effects will be assessed. The results from this study will provide evidence if dietary probiotics reduce hen social stress and improves egg production. Our success will provide consumers with assurance that hen welfare and health can be improved under modern production systems; and it will provide egg producers with a new insight for developing guidelines and practices.
Animal Health Component
30%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
30%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
31532101020100%
Knowledge Area
315 - Animal Welfare/Well-Being and Protection;

Subject Of Investigation
3210 - Egg-type chicken, live animal;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
Our long-term goal is to identify intervention methods to reduce social stress for safeguarding chicken performance, health and well-being. Supporting objectives are 1) To determine if probiotic reduces social stress in caged hens via regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic-medullary-adrenal axis; 2) To examine if probiotic prevents social stress-induced injurious behaviors and osteoporosis in caged hens by regulating the serotonergic system; 3) To determine if probiotic increases health status and well-being in caged hens via regulating intestinal and systemic immunity; and 4) To conduct economic analyses of the costs of dietary probiotic supplementation and to perform sensitivity analyses of key economic parameters.?
Project Methods
In this study, chicks from an aggressive layer strain (trial 1), a former commercial strain, and one of the most popular egg layer strains in the United States (trial 2) will be used. The chicks will be assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: 1) non-beak trimmed chicks fed a regular diet, 2) beak trimmed chicks fed the regular diet, and 3) probiotic-treated chicks (non-beak trimmed chicks fed the regular diet mixed with 250 ppm of the probiotic). Hens will be evaluated for skeletal and foot health, feather quality, egg production traits, feed intake, causes of death, behavior, physiological responses, and gut microorganism changes.

Progress 05/15/17 to 04/26/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The poultry producers andscientists. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two postdoctoral fellows, 3 PhD and 1 SM students, 13 undergraduate students, 4 visiting scholars (3 from China and 1 from Egypt) had been introduced and trained how to conduct animal welfare research, especially in poultry. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to communities of interest through phone calls/conference calls; site visits; email communications; unit newspapers; white papers; workshops (such as Purdue Poultry Day and American College of Poultry Veterinarians); discussions at professional conferences/meetings (such as annual meetings of Animal Science and Poultry Science); and publications (such as Journal of Poultry Science). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The project has been finished based on the proposed, and the following objectives have been examined: 1) To determine if probiotic, bacillus subtilis, reduces social stress in caged hens via regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic-medullary-adrenal axis; 2) To examine if probiotic, bacillus subtilis, prevents social stress-induced injurious behaviors and osteoporosis in caged hens by regulating the serotonergic system; 3) To determine if probiotic, bacillus subtilis, increases health status and well-being in caged hens via regulating intestinal and systemic immunity; and 4) To conduct economic analyses of the costs of dietary probiotic, bacillus subtilis, supplementation and to perform sensitivity analyses of key economic parameters. To further exploring the mechanisms underlaying the probiotic effects, the study has been expended to broiler chickens under both normal and abnormal rearing conditions.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Huang, X.H., S.H. Kuang, T.J. Applegate, T.L. Lin, and H.W. Cheng. Serotonin fluctuation affects serotoninergic development and related neural circuits in chicken embryos. Neuroscience. 2021. 8:13-2021.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Huang, X.H., J.Y. Hu, H.N. Peng, and H.W. Cheng. Embryonic exposure to tryptophan yields bullying victimization via reprogramming the microbiota-gut-brain axis in a chicken model. Nutrition. 2022. 14, 661.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Jiang, S., J.Y. Hu, and H.W. Cheng. The impact of probiotic Bacillus subtilis on injurious behaviour in laying hens. Animals 2022, 12, 870.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Huang, X.H., Z.D. Feng, and H.W. Cheng. Perspective: Gestational Tryptophan Fluctuation Altering Neuroembryogenesis and Psychosocial Development. Cells. 2022, 11, 1270.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Fu, Y.C., J.Y. Hu, M. Erasmus, T. Johnson, and H.W.i Cheng. 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. psj_101925.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Cheng, H.W., Jiang, S., and J.Y. Hu. , Jiaying. Gut-brain axis: Probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, prevents aggression via the modification of the central serotonergic system. Microbial Health - Role of Prebiotics and Probiotics. Ed. R. Mahmoudi. IntechOpen. 2019. P. 31-62. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.86775
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Fu, Y.C. Effects of early-life cacal microbiota transplantation on aggressive behavior and health in roosters. Purdue Graduate School, Purdue University. 12, 2021.


Progress 05/15/17 to 04/20/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The poultry producers andscientists. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two postdoctoral fellows, 3 PhD and 1 SM students, 13 undergraduate students, 4 visiting scholars (3 from China and 1 from Egypt) had been introduced and trained how to conduct animal welfare research, especially in poultry. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to communities of interest through phone calls/conference calls; site visits; email communications; unit newspapers; white papers; workshops (such as Purdue Poultry Day and American College of Poultry Veterinarians); discussions at professional conferences/meetings (such as annual meetings of Animal Science and Poultry Science); and publications (such as Journal of Poultry Science). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The project has been finished based on the proposed, and the following objectives have been examined: 1) To determine if probiotic, bacillus subtilis, reduces social stress in caged hens via regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic-medullary-adrenal axis; 2) To examine if probiotic, bacillus subtilis, prevents social stress-induced injurious behaviors and osteoporosis in caged hens by regulating the serotonergic system; 3) To determine if probiotic, bacillus subtilis, increases health status and well-being in caged hens via regulating intestinal and systemic immunity; and 4) To conduct economic analyses of the costs of dietary probiotic, bacillus subtilis, supplementation and to perform sensitivity analyses of key economic parameters. To further exploring the mechanisms underlaying the probiotic effects, the study has been expended to broiler chickens under both normal and abnormal rearing conditions.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Neuroscience 08:13-2021
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nutrition. 14, 661
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Animals, 2022, 12, 870
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Cells. 2022, 11, 1270
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Accepted on 04/15/2022
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: IntechOpen. 2019. P. 31-62. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.86775.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Graduate school, Purdue University


Progress 05/15/20 to 05/14/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Research scientists and poultry producers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One postdocteral fellow, two graduate students, one undergraduate student, and one visiting scholar have been trained through this project through involving in animal managementwork, analyzingsample and data, and preparing manuscripts and reports. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through publications and presentations during the scientific meetings What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Finish all the samepl and data analyses; and publish all research outcomes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? All samples have been collected and some of them need to run which is related to objective 3.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Mohammed AA, Nahmound M, Murugesan R, and HW Cheng. 2021. Effect of a synbiotic supplement on fear response and memory assessment of broiler chickens subjected to heat stress. Animals. 11: 427.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Jiang S, Yan FF, Hu JY, Mohammed A, and HW Cheng. 2021. Bacillus subtilis-Based Probiotic Improves Skeletal Health and Immunity in Broiler Chickens Exposed to Heat Stress. Animals 11: 1494.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Zou XY, Jiang S, Zhang N, Hu HQ, Wu XL, Liu JZ, Jin ML, and HW Cheng. 2021. Effects of Bacillus subtilis on production performance, bone physiological property, and hematology indexes in laying hens. Animals. 11: 2041.


Progress 05/15/19 to 05/14/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Poultry egg producers, Faculty of universities, scientist of companies Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?With the financial support, it have provided the opportunities for one postdoctoral fellow, one MS graduate student, three visiting scholars, and three undergraduate students who have been trained through conducting the proposed project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated to communities of interest through phone calls/conference calls; site visits; email communications; unit newspapers; white papers; workshops (such as Purdue Poultry Day); professional conferences/meetings (such as 2019 annual meetings of Animal Science and Poultry Science, and NE1942, Enhancing Poultry Production Systems through Emerging Technologies and Husbandry Practices); and publications (such as Journal of Poultry Science). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Finish all samples analyzie as proposed and write reports and manuscripts. And, based ont the findings, we will work with egg producers to look for opportunity if we can conduct a study at commerical farm(s).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? All the samples have been collected and are analyzing as proposed. Several manuscripts have been published and others are preparing for publications. Bsed on the current findings, it indicates that probiotics can reduce social stress and related aggressive behaviors and increase skeletal health in laying hens. Final conclusion will be reached with the more data that will be collected and analyzed.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Yan, F.F., Mohammed, A.A., Murugesan, G.R., and Cheng, H.W. 2019. Effects of a dietary synbiotic inclusion on bone health in broilers subjected to cyclic heat stress episodes. Poult. Sci. 98: 1083-1089.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Jiang, S., Mohammed, A.A., Jacobs, J.A., Cramer, T.A. and Cheng, H.W. Effect of synbiotics on thyroid hormones, intestinal histomorphology, and heat shock protein 70 expression in broiler chickens under cyclic heat stress. Poultry Sci. 2019. Pez571.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Cheng, H.W., Jiang, S. and Hu, JY. 2019. Ch3. Gut-Brain Axis: Probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, prevents aggression via the modification of the central serotonergic system. In: Oral health by using probiotic products. Ed. R. Mahmoudi. IntechOpen. Published in London, United Kingdom.


Progress 05/15/18 to 05/14/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Producers and scientists Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The funding provides opportunities to recruit 1 postdoctoral fellow, 1 graduate students and 1 undergraduate assistant.. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Peer-reviewed Journals F. F. Yan, G. R. Murugesan, and H. W. Cheng. 2019. Effects of probiotic supplementation on performance traits, bone mineralization, cecal microbial composition, cytokines and corticosterone in laying hens. Anim. 13:33-41. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The tissue samples and behavioral data at the remained time points will be collected; and the collected tissue samples and behavioral data will be analyzed as proposed. Continuously to write reports and manuscripts for publications and meeting presentations.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? It is an ongoing study. Some results have evidenced that probiotic increases laying hen health and welfare via the gut-brain axis.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Animal. 13:33-41.


Progress 05/15/17 to 05/14/18

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1) One postdoctoral fellow and one PhD graduate student have been recruited. 2) Two undergraduate students have been trained how to conduct animal welfare research, especially in poultry. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The collected tissue samples and behavioral analyses are conducting (or will be conducted) as proposed. ?

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The research birds have been received and maintained; and the samples of the 1st and 2nd groups have been collected as proposed. The collected samples are analyzing in the lab.

Publications