Comparison of the Growth and Mineralization of the Femur, Tibia, and Metatarsus of Broiler Chicks

Abstract

This study aimed at comparing the growth and mineralization of the femur, tibia, and metatarsus of male and female broiler chicks. On the day of hatch, 100 male and 100 female Ross 308 broiler chicks were transferred stainless cages with 10 birds per cage. On d 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42, five males and five females were sacrificed and their femur, tibia, and metatarsus were collected. Results showed that the tibia was the heaviest and the longest and contained the highest content of ash and calcium (Ca) among the three leg bones. The femur had the greatest diameter. The weight, length, diameter, and ash weight of the femur, tibia, and metatarsus linearly increased with age. The ash, Ca, and phosphorus (P) content in the femur and the tibia quadratically increased with age; by contrast, these parameters in the metatarsus linearly increased with age. The bones grew faster in 1 to 21 d of age. The weight, diameter, and ash weight of the three bones of males were higher than those of females. The Ca to P ratio of the three bones (femur, tibia, and metatarsus) was approximately 2.0:1. These data indicate that there are differences in bone growth and mineralization among the femur, tibia, and metatarsus of male or female broiler chicks.

Model Estimation for LongitudinalBone Growth Based on Age in Male and Female Commercial Broiler Chickens

“…This outcome meant that the keel bone growth in length increased from 29.9 mm at 1 day to 147.5 mm at 35 days of age, but the third toe growth in length increased from 24.2 mm at 1 day to 62.6 mm at 35 days of age. Several studies have evaluated longitudinal bone growth in broiler chickens (Applegate and Lilburn, 2002;Biesiada-Drzaga et al, 2012;Shim et al, 2012;Han et al, 2015;Mabelebele et al, 2017). The results of previous studies were similar to the obtained results in the current study.…”

“…The results of previous studies were similar to the obtained results in the current study. That is, the absolute bone growth in length in the broiler chickens was positively increased with age (Biesiada-Drzaga et al, 2012;Han et al, 2015) or with body weight (Applegate and Lilburn, 2002;Paxton et al, 2014;Mabelebele et al, 2017). The present study also indicated that the rate of longitudinal bone growth differed depending on the studied bones.…”

“…Bone growth in length (or longitudinal bone growth) is an important factor that supports the rapid expansion of the body of broiler chickens. Several studies have indicated that absolute rate of longitudinal bone growth is positively associated with the age or weight of broiler chickens (Applegate and Lilburn, 2002;Biesiada-Drzaga et al, 2012;Han et al, 2015;Mabelebele et al, 2017). However, one study indicated that relative bone growth in length, expressed as a ratio of bone length to body weight, was negatively associated with body weight gain in broiler chickens (Shim et al, 2012).…”

The Phenotypic Performance of Kambro Crossbreeds of Female Broiler Cobb 500 and Male Pelung Blirik Hitam

“…Shim et al (2012) stated that bone of fast-growing broiler at 6 weeks age is longer, wider, heavier, stronger, compact and high calcium concentrated compared with slow-growing broiler with the same age. Han et al (2015) stated that tibia is the longest and heaviest part compared with femur as the longest diameter bone. Mortality rate and performance of broiler-type chicken are affected by bone structure.…”

Perfil físico do fêmur de frangos de corte alimentados com níveis crescentes de quirera de soja

“…Frangos de corte de crescimento rápido são caracterizados por maior ganho de peso corporal, o que resulta em problemas no esqueleto (principalmente ossos do fêmur e da tíbia) que desempenham um papel importante como estrutura de suporte para seu peso corporal, tais problemas ósseos podem reduzir o desempenho do crescimento dos frangos de corte e aumentando a mortalidade (HAN et al, 2015).…”