In modern animal husbandry, stress can be viewed as an automatic response triggered by exposure to adverse environmental conditions. This response can range from mild discomfort to severe consequences, including mortality. The poultry industry, which significantly contributes to human nutrition, is not exempt from this issue. Although genetic selection has been employed for several decades to enhance production output, it has also resulted in poor stress resilience. Stress is manifested through a series of physiological reactions, such as the identification of the stressful stimulus, activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal medulla, and subsequent hormonal cascades. While brief periods of stress can be tolerated, prolonged exposure can have more severe consequences. For instance, extreme fluctuations in environmental temperature can lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, impairment of reproductive performance, and reduced immunity. In addition, excessive noise in poultry slaughterhouses has been linked to altered bird behaviour and decreased production efficiency. Mechanical vibrations have also been shown to negatively impact the meat quality of broilers during transport as well as the egg quality and hatchability in hatcheries. Lastly, egg production is heavily influenced by light intensity and regimens, and inadequate light management can result in deficiencies, including visual anomalies, skeletal deformities, and circulatory problems. Although there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the impact of environmental stressors on poultry physiology, there is a disproportionate representation of stressors in research. Recent studies have been focused on chronic heat stress, reflecting the current interest of the scientific community in climate change. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the major abiotic stressors in poultry production and elucidate their underlying mechanisms, addressing the need for a more comprehensive understanding of stress in diverse environmental contexts.
Chris Major Ncho 1, Janine I Berdos 2, Vaishali Gupta 3, Attaur Rahman4, Kefala Taye Mekonnen 5, Allah Bakhsh 6
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2024 Aug 12.doi: 10.1111/jpn.14032.
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
2Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Tarlac Agricultural University, Malacampa, Tarlac, Philippines.
3Division of Applied Life Sciences (BK21 Four Program), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju-si, Republic of Korea.
4Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
5Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Arsi University, Asella, Oromia, Ethiopia.
6Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.
In modern animal husbandry, stress can be viewed as an automatic response triggered by exposure to adverse environmental conditions. This response can range from mild discomfort to severe consequences, including mortality. The poultry industry, which significantly contributes to human nutrition, is not exempt from this issue. Although genetic selection has been employed for several decades to enhance production output, it has also resulted in poor stress resilience. Stress is manifested through a series of physiological reactions, such as the identification of the stressful stimulus, activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal medulla, and subsequent hormonal cascades. While brief periods of stress can be tolerated, prolonged exposure can have more severe consequences. For instance, extreme fluctuations in environmental temperature can lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, impairment of reproductive performance, and reduced immunity. In addition, excessive noise in poultry slaughterhouses has been linked to altered bird behaviour and decreased production efficiency. Mechanical vibrations have also been shown to negatively impact the meat quality of broilers during transport as well as the egg quality and hatchability in hatcheries. Lastly, egg production is heavily influenced by light intensity and regimens, and inadequate light management can result in deficiencies, including visual anomalies, skeletal deformities, and circulatory problems. Although there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the impact of environmental stressors on poultry physiology, there is a disproportionate representation of stressors in research. Recent studies have been focused on chronic heat stress, reflecting the current interest of the scientific community in climate change. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the major abiotic stressors in poultry production and elucidate their underlying mechanisms, addressing the need for a more comprehensive understanding of stress in diverse environmental contexts.
Chris Major Ncho 1, Janine I Berdos 2, Vaishali Gupta 3, Attaur Rahman4, Kefala Taye Mekonnen 5, Allah Bakhsh 6
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2024 Aug 12.doi: 10.1111/jpn.14032.
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
2Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Tarlac Agricultural University, Malacampa, Tarlac, Philippines.
3Division of Applied Life Sciences (BK21 Four Program), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju-si, Republic of Korea.
4Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
5Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Arsi University, Asella, Oromia, Ethiopia.
6Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.