%0 Journal Article
%T Histopathological Studies on Stunting Syndrome in Broilers, Lahore, Pakistan
%A Muhammad Fiaz Qamar
%A Hina Aslam
%A Nusrat Jahan
%J Veterinary Medicine International
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/212830
%X Runting stunting syndrome (RSS) is a multifactorial disease with many names and faces that had caused considerable economic losses to poultry through reduced uniformity, reduced livability, decreased body weights, elevated feed conversions, and many secondary diseases. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of stunting syndrome on histopathology in chicks ( ) of different ages collected from nine different farms. Grouping was done on the basis of age (G1 = 1¨C10 days, G2 = 11¨C20 days, G3 = 21¨C30 days, and G4 = 31¨C40 days) including both stunted and normal chicks. Histopathological findings were the intestinal lesions (29%), including degeneration of villi, crypts, epithelial cells and lamina propria. Pancreatic histopathological lesions (16.65%) included the fibrosis, vacuolation, and degeneration of acinar cells. Degeneration of follicles and epithelial cells, of bursa of fabricius (43%) and dilation of glandular cells of proventriculus including lymphocytes infiltration (5.6%) were other histopathological findings. All these changes may interfere with normal digestive processes and normal body functioning resulting in poor weight gain and retarded growth or stunting of chicks. 1. Introduction High demand for chicken meat, early marketing age, rapid return of broiler farms, and high profit margins in the lowest possible time have increased the popularity of poultry farming. Some of the factors that are important for poultry farming are the flock size, age, and weight of chick at the time of marketing, feeding, feed conversion ratio, uniformity, and mortality. In poultry, an unusually small chick is referred as ¡°runt¡± which means smallest of the flock, and retardation or hindering of normal growth comes under the term ¡°stunting.¡± A condition in which members of a flock appear with relatively smaller bodies due to retarded growth is called runting stunting syndrome (RSS) [1]. Runting stunting syndrome (RSS) was first described in 1940s, then became popular to the commercial industry and has been reported variously around the world since 1970s [2]. RSS had caused economic hardships in the poultry industry through reduced uniformity, reduced livability, decreased body weights, elevated feed conversions, and many secondary diseases [3]. Many descriptive terms have been used for this disease as helicopter disease [4]; brittle bone disease [5]; pale bird syndrome [6]; and malabsorption syndrome [7]. When diseased birds are necropsied, generally inflamed stomachs (proventriculi), reduced smaller liver size but enlarged, gall bladders may
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/vmi/2013/212830/