Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 4/21/17



Researchers are reporting that they’ve identified a potential cause of woody breast in broilers. This, according to USPOULTRY, which funded a research project at the University of Delaware in Newark, Del.

Woody breast is defined as breast muscle that is hard to the touch, bulging in appearance and often pale in color.

The researchers reported that early lesions of the condition may be found in the breast tissue of one-week-old broilers and that the first stage of the condition involves inflammation of the veins in the breast tissue and accumulation of lipid around the affected veins. That is followed over time by muscle cell death and replacement by fibrous and fatty tissue.

Genetic analyses also indicated that there was dysfunction in lipid metabolism in the affected birds.

With the prevalence rate up to 10 percent in some flocks, the disease is causing considerable losses in the poultry industry globally. Although initial investigations of the disease focused more on chickens at market age (six to eight weeks old), there are far fewer studies directed toward the onset and early pathogenesis of the disease in broilers.

As a result, the researchers set out to identify and characterize the onset, early course and prevalence of subclinical disease for the muscle disorder through genetic and histologic analyses.

Based on their results, the researchers concluded that the development of woody breast is largely the result of damaged veins, characterized by inflammation of the veins and lipid deposition around the veins. That disruption of venous drainage and regional impairments of lipid metabolism precede the changes in the muscle tissue.

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