Measuring Chronic Stress in Broiler Chickens: Effects of Environmental Complexity and Stocking Density on Immunoglobulin-A Levels

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The objective of this study was to determine how environmental complexity and stocking density impacted immunoglobulin-A (IgA) concentrations in fast-growing broiler chickens. We found that birds housed in complex environments had increased plasma IgA concentrations, suggesting that these birds experienced less chronic stress than birds in simple environments. Additionally, we found that birds raised in low-density environments showed increased concentrations of secretory IgA, suggesting that these birds experienced less chronic stress than birds in high-density environments. This indicates that plasma and secretory IgA concentrations in broiler chickens do respond to housing conditions. These measures of chronic stress show appropriate contrast when the statistical power is high. However, additional work needs to replicate outcomes under similar and different conditions before these measures can be routinely used to quantify chronic stress in broiler chickens. ABSTRACT: 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 (n = 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.