Scanning Electron Microscopic Examination on the Small Intestine of the Broiler Chicken Regarding its Specific Morphometric Parameters

Abstract

Our work was focused on the intestine of 30 days Cobb’s broilers by both gross morphology and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the length and weight of the small intestine as well as the villi diameters and villus, to describe the main differences at three regions by SEM. The mean length and width of the small intestine were recorded at 127.57cm and 0.75 cm respectively. The weight of the intestine was 36.28.gm. By SEM intestinal villi were appeared as a tongue-like shape at three regions and the shape of the epithelial lining of the villi was a dome with pores at the duodenum, polygonal shape with pores at the jejunum, and appear as stratified bands with obvious pores at the ileum. At our work, the highest value of the intestinal villi height was at the jejunum (664.52 μm) while the lowest value of the intestinal villi height was at the ileum (594.75μm). We concluded that the jejunum was prominent in most measurements which leads to the enhancement of the greater absorption.