Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov;62(6):884-892.
doi: 10.5187/jast.2020.62.6.884. Epub 2020 Nov 30.

Effects of feather processing methods on quantity of extracted corticosterone in broiler chickens

Mohammad Ataallahi  1 , Jalil Ghassemi Nejad  2   3 , Jun-Ik Song  4 , Jin-Soo Kim  1 , Kyu-Hyun Park  1
Affiliations

Effects of feather processing methods on quantity of extracted corticosterone in broiler chickens

Mohammad Ataallahi et al. J Anim Sci Technol. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Corticosterone is known as a biological stress index in many species including birds. Feather corticosterone concentration (FCC) has increasingly been used as a measure for chronic stress status in broiler chickens. As sample preparation is the first step of analytical process, different techniques of feather matrix disruption need to be validated for obtaining better result in analysing corticosterone extraction. The current study was a validation of pulverizing the feather by bead beater (BB) and surgical scissors (SS) processing prior to corticosterone extraction in feather of broiler chickens. The type of feather processing prior to the hormone extraction may alter the final output. Thereby, finding a standard method according to laboratory facilities is pivotal. This study carried out to determine the effects of feather pulverization methods on the extraction amount of corticosterone in broiler chickens. Feathers were sampled from four weeks old Ross 308 broiler chickens (n = 12 birds). All broiler chickens were kept under the same environmental condition and had access to feed and water. Feather samples were assigned to one of the following processing methods 1) using a BB for pulverizing and 2) using a SS for chopping into tiny pieces. Each sample was duplicated into two wells during enzyme immunoassay (EIA) analysis to improve the accuracy of the obtained data. The results showed lower standard errors and constant output of FCC by using the BB method compared with the SS method. Overall comparison of FCC showed a significantly higher (p < 0.001) amount of the FCC in the BB compared with the SS. Overall, using the BB method is recommended over the SS method for feather processing due to the ability to homogenize a large number of samples simultaneously, ease of use and greater extraction of feather corticosterone.

Keywords: Bead beater; Broiler chicken; EIA; Feather corticosterone methodology; Surgical scissors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Infographic of feather corticosterone analysis methodology.
FCC, feather corticosterone concentration.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. The main structure of broiler chickens feather.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. The effect of pulverizing by the bead beater and chopping by the surgical scissors on FCC in broiler chickens feather (± SE).
a,bDifferent letters represent significant differences (p < 0.001). FCC, feather corticosterone concentration.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.. Feather sample pulverized by the bead beater A versus feather finely chopped by the surgical scissors B.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Research Center . Fourth National Communication of the Republic of Korea under the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change [Internet] The Government of Republic of Korea; 2019. http://www.gir.go.kr/eng/board/read.do?pagerOffset=0&maxPageItems=10%20&... [cited 2020 Jul 3]
    1. Korea Meteorological Administration 2018 annual climate report [Internet] 2018 https://www.kma.go.kr/download_01/Annual_Report_2018.pdf [cited 2020 Jul 3]
    1. Allen MR, Dube OP, Solecki W, Aragon-Durand F, Cramer W, Humphreys S, et al. Framing and context. In: Masson-Delmotte V, Zhai P, Pörtner HO, Roberts D, Skea J, Shukla PR, Pirani A, et al., editors. Global Warming of 1.5°C: an IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. Geneva: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; 2018. pp. 47–92. p.
    1. Bortolotti GR, Marchant TA, Blas J, German T. Corticosterone in feathers is a long-term, integrated measure of avian stress physiology. Funct Ecol. 2008;22:494–500. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01387.x. - DOI
    1. Blas J. Stress in birds. In: Scanes CG, editor. Sturkie’s avian physiology. New York, NY: Academic Press; 2015. pp. 769–810. editor. p. - DOI