gut microbiota contributes to the high drooping moisture

High dropping moisture in poultry production has deleterious effects that threaten the condition of the immediate and wider environments, generating costs, public health concerns, and significant pollution. To explore the contributing genetic components, we classified moisture content of 67-week-old Rhode Island Red droppings at 4 levels and evaluated heritability. We found the heritability of dropping moisture to be 0.219, indicating a medium heritable trait. We then selected chickens with the highest and lowest levels of dropping moisture. We detected gut microbial composition by meta-genomics. Six different gut microbiota between the two groups are potentially related to fecal moisture levels. Our results identify a genetic component to differential chicken dropping moisture levels, which can promote the development of probiotic feeds.