Morphological characterization of the gastrointestinal tract of Cobb 500® broilers

Abstract:

This study aimed to describe the morphology of the digestive tract of broilers of the Cobb 500^® lineage. The experiment was carried out in an experimental shed of the poultry sector of a Technical College in Bom Jesus county, Piauí, Brazil. The anatomical features of the digestive tract of eight 46-day-old broilers were evaluated with descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis. Microscopic evaluation was performed by analysis of histological slides. It could be concluded that the Cobb 500^® lineage demonstrated tissue stratigraphy of the digestive tube, consisting of four tunics, e.g. mucosa, submucosa, muscular and serosa, with exception of esophagus and crop which instead of a serous tunic has an adventitia tunic. In the esophagus exist mucous glands, but not in crop. In the mucosa of the proventriculus exist various mucous glands, which drain their secretions into secondary and primary ducts, and through an excretory duct into the lumen of the organ. The ventricle contains keratin in mucosa, and gastric glands in the lamina propria. In the ileum goblet cells are evident, but are also present in duodenum and jejunum. In the small and large intestine villi are evident, which become shorter and wider caudally to the digestive tract, with diffuse and nodular lymphoid tissue most evident in the large intestine.

Index Terms:
Gallus gallus domesticus; gastrointestinal tract; histology; stratigraphy.