Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels
Commercial housing conditions may contribute to chronic negative stress in broiler chickens, reducing their animal welfare. The objective of this study was to determine how secretory (fecal) and plasma immunoglobulin-A (IgA) levels in fast-growing broilers respond to positive and negative housing co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/13/2058 |
| _version_ | 1797592241231888384 |
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| author | Andrew M. Campbell Mallory G. Anderson Leonie Jacobs |
| author_facet | Andrew M. Campbell Mallory G. Anderson Leonie Jacobs |
| author_sort | Andrew M. Campbell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Commercial housing conditions may contribute to chronic negative stress in broiler chickens, reducing their animal welfare. The objective of this study was to determine how secretory (fecal) and plasma immunoglobulin-A (IgA) levels in fast-growing broilers respond to positive and negative housing conditions. In three replicated experiments, male Ross 708 broilers (<i>n</i> = 1650/experiment) were housed in a 2 × 2 factorial study of high or low environmental complexity and high or low stocking density. In experiments 1 and 3 but not in experiment 2, high complexity tended to positively impact day 48 plasma IgA concentrations. When three experiments were combined, high complexity positively impacted day 48 plasma IgA concentrations. Stocking density and the complexity × density interaction did not impact day 48 plasma IgA concentrations. Environmental complexity and the complexity × density interaction did not impact day 48 secretory IgA concentrations. A high stocking density negatively impacted day 48 secretory IgA concentrations overall but not in individual experiments. These results suggest that environmental complexity decreased chronic stress, while a high stocking density increased chronic stress. Thus, plasma IgA levels increased under high-complexity housing conditions (at day 48), and secretory IgA levels (at day 48) decreased under high-density conditions, suggesting that chronic stress differed among treatments. Therefore, these measures may be useful for quantifying chronic stress but only if the statistical power is high. Future research should replicate these findings under similar and different housing conditions to confirm the suitability of IgA as a measure of chronic stress in broiler chickens. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:48:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-00c4480fb4004ceb9b547a6ff807de6e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:48:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-00c4480fb4004ceb9b547a6ff807de6e2023-11-18T16:02:19ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-06-011313205810.3390/ani13132058Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A LevelsAndrew M. Campbell0Mallory G. Anderson1Leonie Jacobs2School of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USASchool of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USASchool of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USACommercial housing conditions may contribute to chronic negative stress in broiler chickens, reducing their animal welfare. The objective of this study was to determine how secretory (fecal) and plasma immunoglobulin-A (IgA) levels in fast-growing broilers respond to positive and negative housing conditions. In three replicated experiments, male Ross 708 broilers (<i>n</i> = 1650/experiment) were housed in a 2 × 2 factorial study of high or low environmental complexity and high or low stocking density. In experiments 1 and 3 but not in experiment 2, high complexity tended to positively impact day 48 plasma IgA concentrations. When three experiments were combined, high complexity positively impacted day 48 plasma IgA concentrations. Stocking density and the complexity × density interaction did not impact day 48 plasma IgA concentrations. Environmental complexity and the complexity × density interaction did not impact day 48 secretory IgA concentrations. A high stocking density negatively impacted day 48 secretory IgA concentrations overall but not in individual experiments. These results suggest that environmental complexity decreased chronic stress, while a high stocking density increased chronic stress. Thus, plasma IgA levels increased under high-complexity housing conditions (at day 48), and secretory IgA levels (at day 48) decreased under high-density conditions, suggesting that chronic stress differed among treatments. Therefore, these measures may be useful for quantifying chronic stress but only if the statistical power is high. Future research should replicate these findings under similar and different housing conditions to confirm the suitability of IgA as a measure of chronic stress in broiler chickens.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/13/2058animal welfareIgAbroiler chickenenvironmental enrichmentstocking density |
| spellingShingle | Andrew M. Campbell Mallory G. Anderson Leonie Jacobs Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels Animals animal welfare IgA broiler chicken environmental enrichment stocking density |
| title | Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels |
| title_full | Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels |
| title_fullStr | Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels |
| title_short | Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels |
| title_sort | measuring chronic stress in broiler chickens effects of environmental complexity and stocking density on immunoglobulin a levels |
| topic | animal welfare IgA broiler chicken environmental enrichment stocking density |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/13/2058 |
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