Probiotics-induced Changes in Intestinal Structure and Gut Microbiota Are Associated with Reduced Rate of Pimpled Eggs in the Late Laying Period of Hens

Production of pimpled or sandpaper-shelled eggs (SE) is a major problem in aged hens. Probiotics can improve eggshell quality; however, the relationship between SE production and gut bacteria remains unclear. Here, 1200 450-d-old Hy-line hens were assigned to four groups (300 hens each), with the co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of Poultry Science 2022, Vol.59(3), pp.206-222
Main Authors: Khogali, Mawahib K., Wen, Kang, Jauregui, Diego, Malik, Huwaida E. E, Liu, Long, Zhao, Minmeng, Gong, Daoqing, Geng, Tuoyu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Birds
Calcium absorption
Calcium transport
Diet
Digestive system
Egg shells
Eggs
eggshell quality
Gastrointestinal tract
Gene expression
gut microbiota
Intestinal microflora
Intestine
Microbiota
Nutrient transport
pimpled egg
Probiotics
rRNA 16S
Sequence analysis
Tight junctions
Villus
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Summary:Production of pimpled or sandpaper-shelled eggs (SE) is a major problem in aged hens. Probiotics can improve eggshell quality; however, the relationship between SE production and gut bacteria remains unclear. Here, 1200 450-d-old Hy-line hens were assigned to four groups (300 hens each), with the control group fed basal diet and treatment groups fed basal diet plus 500, 1000, and 1500 mg/kg of Clostridium butyricum and Bacillus subtilis, respectively. After 4 weeks, probiotics significantly decreased the SE rate from 42.51% to 28.02%. To address why probiotics reduced SE rate, the hens that only produced normal eggs (NE) or SE based on a 2-week assessment were assigned to three groups (NE, SE, and SEP groups; 10 hens each), with the NE and SE groups fed a basal diet and SEP group fed a basal diet plus 1000 mg/kg probiotics. After 4 weeks, ileal tissues from eight birds/group were collected for histomorphological and gene expression analyses, and the ileal content was collected from five birds/group for 16S rDNA sequencing analysis. The data showed that probiotics significantly increased the villus length and ratio of villus length to crypt depth. Quantitative PCR analysis indicated that there were no significant differences in the expression of genes related to tight junctions, nutrient transport, and calcium absorption among the groups (except TRPV6, P
ISSN:1346-7395
1349-0486
DOI:10.2141/jpsa.0210061