Features of adaptation of the skin of turkeys in industrial conditions

Abstract

The skin, through its structural features, while performing its functions, participates in the formation and establishment of adaptive processes in the bird’s body in response to the influence of factors of both exogenous and endogenous origin. The purpose of this work was to study the regional and agerelated features of the histostructure of the skin of Hybrid Converter NOVO cross tur keys raised in the conditions of a poultry farm in the Tyumen region. Macroscopic and microscopic studies of the skin of turkey poults were carried out in the laboratory of the Department of Anatomy and Physiology. It has been established that turkey skin has 3 layers: epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous layer. The epidermis consists of the horny and germinal layers, the dermis of the superficial and deep layers, where feather follicles lie. The stratum corneum of the epidermis is represented by corneocytes, and the germinal layer is represented by keratinocytes. The thickness of the skin of the back is less than that of the abdomen. At the same time, the thickness of the stratum corneum on the back is less than that of the germinal layer up to 105 days of age. On the abdomen, the thickness of the horny and germinal layers is almost the same at all ages. There is a thickening of the stratum corneum on the abdomen compared to the skin of the back. The skin is thickest on the abdomen and gradually thins towards the back. The epidermis is thin. The dermis is characterized by a dense interweaving of collagen fibers. Smooth muscle fibers in the skin and hair follicles develop by 42 days, and increase in volume by 105 days of age. The thinning of the feather cover in the sternum and belly area, caused by mechanical stress when poultry are kept on the floor, contributes to an increase in the absolute thickness of the epidermis in this area (about 3.5 times greater than in the back area), which is associated with its participation in protecting the skin from mechanical impacts damage.