Choi Seojin, Kim Eun Bae
Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea.
Institute of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea.
Anim Biosci. 2025 Aug;38(8):1773-1783. doi: 10.5713/ab.24.0889. Epub 2025 Apr 11.
Laying hens are a critical resource in global agriculture, valued for their egg production, which provides an economical and nutritious source of protein. This study aims to comprehensively characterize the developmental changes in the gut microbiota of Hy-Line Brown laying hens from birth to post-laying stages.
A total of 100 Hy-Line Brown laying hens were reared under controlled conditions, and feces and ileal contents were collected at three post-laying stages (151, 302, and 422 days). DNA was extracted from the samples and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq platform. The Random Forest algorithm was applied to identify microbial predictors and explore their relationships with age.
The rapid increase in body weight continued until day 151, after which it stabilized through day 422. Fecal microbiome diversity increased until day 302, whereas in the ileal content, it grew until day 101 before declining. Throughout all stages, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the predominant phyla. Lactobacillus abundance peaked on day 10 (33.75%) across all sampling sites, whereas Escherichia-Shigella reached its maximum on day 21 but gradually diminished to 2.88% by day 422 (p<0.05). Machine learning analysis revealed that Candidatus Arthromitus and Clostridia vadinBB60 group consistently had the highest importance scores across all sample sites. At 302 day, body weight exhibited negative relationships with feces Brevibacterium (R = -0.87; p<0.05) and Brachybacterium (R = -0.79; p<0.05).
This study examined gut microbiota changes in Hy-Line Brown hens from birth to one-year post-laying, highlighting the impact of calcium-rich layer diets. The findings provide insights into microbiota dynamics and their relationship with age, which can be applied to optimize dietary strategies and improve laying hen productivity and health.
蛋鸡是全球农业中的重要资源，因其产蛋量而受到重视，鸡蛋提供了经济且营养丰富的蛋白质来源。本研究旨在全面描述海兰褐蛋鸡从出生到产蛋后期肠道微生物群的发育变化。
共100只海兰褐蛋鸡在可控条件下饲养，在三个产蛋后期阶段（151、302和422日龄）收集粪便和回肠内容物。从样本中提取DNA，并使用Illumina MiSeq平台对16S rRNA基因的V4区域进行测序。应用随机森林算法识别微生物预测因子并探索它们与年龄的关系。
体重在151日龄前持续快速增加，之后到422日龄保持稳定。粪便微生物群多样性在302日龄前增加，而回肠内容物中的微生物群多样性在101日龄前增加，之后下降。在所有阶段，厚壁菌门、变形菌门和拟杆菌门是主要的门类。所有采样位点中，乳酸杆菌丰度在第10天达到峰值（33.75%），而大肠杆菌-志贺氏菌在第21天达到最大值，但到422日龄时逐渐降至2.88%（p<0.05）。机器学习分析表明，在所有样本位点中，类杆状芽孢杆菌属和vadinBB60梭菌组的重要性得分始终最高。在302日龄时，体重与粪便中的短杆菌属（R = -0.87；p<0.05）和平滑短杆菌（R = -0.79；p<0.05）呈负相关。
本研究检测了海兰褐蛋鸡从出生到产蛋后一年的肠道微生物群变化，突出了富含钙的产蛋期日粮的影响。研究结果为微生物群动态及其与年龄的关系提供了见解，可用于优化日粮策略并提高蛋鸡的生产性能和健康水平。
