Characterization of the eukaryotic microbial communities in the chicken ileum in cage-free and conventional commercial housing systems.

ABSTRACT: The current shift from conventional cage (CC) hen housing facilities towards cage-free (CF) hen housing in the egg industry has left many questions regarding how level of fecal exposure and exposure to other hens may influence the hen intestinal microbiota. In a previous publication we reported differences in the bacterial ileal communities and ileal morphology between hens in CC and CF production environments at a single commercial site. Here, we present the first 18S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing-based characterization of the eukaryotic ileal microbiota of adult layer hens, and their associations with intestinal health parameters and the bacterial microbiota. DNA was extracted from the ileal digesta of hens (n = 32 CC, n = 48 CF) using the Qiagen Powerlyzer Powersoil kit, followed by amp

SUBMITTER: Anderson CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10070151 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature