Study of Relationship between Aorta Growth and Heart Disease in Broiler and Layer Chickens in Different Ages

producing chickens with high weigh in a short time is the main purpose of the broiler chickens’ producers. This rapid body weight gain can cause some disorders in some organs performs like cardiovascular system and it can make these chickens prone to some diseases like cardiovascular failures as well as the sudden death syndrome. So in this study, it was decided to investigate the growth of aorta and its coordination with body gain in broilers and layer chickens.

Study was performed on Cobb 500 and Ross 380 as broiler chickens and Leghorn as layer chickens and samples were separated from the descending aorta. after tissue processing and Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, lumen diameter and the thickness of tunica intima, media and adventitia were measured and compared.

The results showed that in broiler and layer chickens, the tunica media was the thickest layer. This layer showed a decrease in thickness on day 40. On the other hand, on day 40, the broiler chickens revealed more weight compared to the layer chickens, and this weight gain happened very fast, while the growth of vessels, the thickness of the layers, and the aortic diameter in both breeds were almost equal.

Thus it can be concluded that with the rapid growth in broiler chickens, birds with smaller cardiovascular and respiratory tracts are formed that it can make them prone to the cardiovascular diseases.