Bone mineral density of production birds: Gallus gallus (broiler chicken) and Struthio camellus (ostrich)

• Grant number: 06/06894-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2007
• End date: January 31, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Ariel Antonio Mendes
• Grantee: Ariel Antonio Mendes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Two experiments will be carried to take off doubts raised during the first year of PhD, when the bone mineral density (DMO) of the region of the head of femur of broiler chickens was established with and without lesion for femoral degeneration and the DMO of tibias and femurs of ostriches in age of slaugher. This project is a continuation of the research line that comes being developed in the FMVZ/UNESP. For this the first experiment (EXPERIMENT I) will be carried in the experimental installations of the Faculdade de Medicine Veterinária e Zootecnia da UNESP, Botucatu. 305 broiler chickens of one day will be used, males, Cobb, distributed in 6 boxes of 5m² each, with population density of 10 birds/m². The birds will be submitted the two treatments, consisting of rations with normal levels of energy and protein and rations with high levels of these nutrients. The adopted experimental delineation will entirely be casualizado, with two treatments of three repetitions each, being that the birds will receive the rations with nutrition density normal or greater from the first day age. This experiment will have objective to follow the development of the region of the head of femur, for this will be carried through analyses of histology cuts of this region, which will be collected to the 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days of age. To the 42 days of age 60 birds (30 of each treatment) will be taken to the Hospital Veterinario/FMVZ, where they will be radiographed still alive, for analysis of the integrity of the head of femur and analysis of DMO. Later these birds will be slaugher and of them removed the legs for macrocospic evaluation of this region (femoral joint). Thus, three legs for treatment will be chosen, inside of each prop up of lesion for femoral degeneration, so that they are examined in a computerized tomography, for evaluation of the bone structure in the region of head of femur. After this analysis the bone parts will be submitted to the histology analysis. Of this form it will be possible to evaluate the development of the injuries, by means of different techniques, associating the results and getting information that do not meet available in literature. In as the experiment (EXPERIMENT II), analyses of bone mineral density in tibias and femurs of ostrich breeders will be carried through. Six couples of ostrich will be used, of the race African Black, with age between five and seven years. The birds will be submitted the two treatments being they: ration with adequate level of calcium (ration of reproduction) and ration with low calcium level (ration of maintenance). For this, the birds will be distributed to in poles for couples, perhaps being that in the first phase of the experiment, that will have duration of six weeks, all the birds will receive ration from maintenance. After this period three females will be sacrificed for the evaluation of the bone quality of the tibias and femurs. The too much birds then will be fed with ration of reproduction. It will have a pause of one week in the collection of eggs, for adaptation to the new diet and after seven weeks, the females will be sacrificed for the evaluation of the bone quality of the tibias and femurs. The eggs will be collected during first and the second phase of the experiment, that will have total duration of 15 weeks. The evaluated characteristics of bone quality will be bone mineral density, bone resistance, Seedor index, dry substance, ashy and calcium and phosphorus percentage. The characteristics of quality of evaluated eggs will be weight of eggs, percentage of rind and text of calcium and phosphorus in the rind of eggs. Of this form it will be possible to evaluate which the contribution of calcium and phosphorus proceeding from the diet and which the contribution of these elements proceeding from the bones for the formation of the rind of eggs, in ostriches. The males will be kept together the females, to only stimulate the position ("male effect"). (AU)