HISTOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE SKIN OF BROILER CHICKEN

Abstract

Histological studies were undertaken on the skin of six male commercial broiler chicken of six to eight weeks of age, slaughtered at Meat Technology Unit, Mannuthy. The skin consisted of an outer thin epidermis and inner thick dermis. The per cent contribution of epidermis and dermis to total width of skin was 2.01±0.01 and 97.99±0.01 respectively. The epidermis presented two major layers viz., stratum germinativum and stratum corneum. The dermis consisted of three distinct layers from superficial to deep viz., stratum superficiale, stratum profundum and lamia elastica. The stratum profundum consisted of a superficial stratum compactum and a deep stratum laxum which was the thickest among all the layers of skin. The lamina elastica separated the subcutaneous tissue from the dermis and was the thinnest layer

Keywords

• broiler chicken
• skin
• histology