Limited changes in the fecal microbiome composition of laying hens after oral inoculation with wild duck feces.

ABSTRACT: Interspecies transmission of fecal microbiota can serve as an indicator for (indirect) contact between domestic and wild animals to assess risks of pathogen transmission, e.g., avian influenza. Here, we investigated whether oral inoculation of laying hens with feces of wild ducks (mallards, Anas platyrhynchos) resulted in a hen fecal microbiome that was detectably altered on community parameters or relative abundances of individual genera. To distinguish between effects of the duck inoculum and effects of the inoculation procedure, we compared the fecal microbiomes of adult laying hens resulting from 3 treatments: inoculation with wild duck feces (duck), inoculation with chicken feces (auto), and a negative control group with no treatment. We collected cloacal swabs from 7 hens per treatme

SUBMITTER: Schreuder J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8913958 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature