Research

C. J. PROUDMAN, J. O. HUNTER , A. C. DARBY , E. E. ESCALONA , C. BATTY and C. TURNER Summary Reasons for performing study: The intestinal bacterial community of the horse is a key determinant of intestinal and whole body health. Understanding the bacterial community structure and function is an important foundation for studies of intestinal health and disease. Objectives: To describe the faecal bacterial community and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of the faecal metabolome of healthy Thoroughbred racehorses and to characterise responses to dietary supplementation with amylase-rich malt extract. Study design: Intervention study. Methods: Faecal samples were collected...

When free range laying chickens were fed with ‘Avinectar’, there was a similar pattern, with reduced amounts of formaldehyde in the droppings and increased levels of butyric acid. The VOCs reflect metabolism in the microbiome and vary depending on which bacterial species are present. Using 16S Metagenomic Analysis with the Illumina platform, we were able to identify changes in the chickens’ microbiome. We found lower levels of Enterobacteria, Clostridia and Campylobacteria, all of which are believed to be ‘bad’ bacteria and increased amounts of Ruminococcus and Bifidobacteria which are thought to be beneficial for health in chickens. In agreement with...

Racing pigeons are bred from domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica) and trained to return home (‘race’) from a start point, which may be many miles distant, flying at speeds of 50-60 miles per hour Consequently, the birds arrive exhausted, often carrying infections picked up from pigeons released at the same time. These infections can be transmitted to other birds in their lofts and hence the mortality of young birds from infections can be greater than 30 %, even with experienced owners who maintain good levels of hygiene. The level of stress amongst racing pigeons is also high, both from racing...

In partnership with with the University of Birmingham's Centre for Computational Biology, we are working in the fields of metagenomics, microbiomics and metabolomics to understand the equine, canine and avian gut.