Chicken Heart Health

[allosaurusrock]

Hello- I apologize if this isn’t the correct place to post this thread, but I thought since it has to do with breeding that this would be the best place.

Does anyone know where I can find any veterinary literature, studies, etc. That could give me the best example of what a healthy chicken heart is supposed to look like?

After dealing with heart and circulatory problems in my seramas for many years, I have been dissecting birds and looking at their hearts post-mortem and looking at their hearts while processing. The overall shape of the hearts are super variable- I want a better understanding of what the “ideal” is so that I can cull breeding birds based on what their offspring look like when I process them.

I’ve found a little bit, but the study I found was looking at heart failure in CX broilers, and used a white leghorn heart as the control… white leghorns are such heavy layers that I do not think that it would be a great example of what a “normal” chicken heart should look like! Maybe they are, but I’d need a bigger control group that includes more breeds.

Thank you!

 

[SourRoses]

I'm going to risk being a pest and tag @U_Stormcrow because I know he's talked about organs in dissection and has read more poultry studies than most of us could contemplate. But it may be a little bit before he has time to reply.


For me, I would like to know how to evaluate chickens for cardiovascular health while they are still breathing, for breeding purposes.
Mini treadmills and breath-volume analyzer thingies??

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hello- I apologize if this isn’t the correct place to post this thread, but I thought since it has to do with breeding that this would be the best place.

Does anyone know where I can find any veterinary literature, studies, etc. That could give me the best example of what a healthy chicken heart is supposed to look like?

After dealing with heart and circulatory problems in my seramas for many years, I have been dissecting birds and looking at their hearts post-mortem and looking at their hearts while processing. The overall shape of the hearts are super variable- I want a better understanding of what the “ideal” is so that I can cull breeding birds based on what their offspring look like when I process them.

I’ve found a little bit, but the study I found was looking at heart failure in CX broilers, and used a white leghorn heart as the control… white leghorns are such heavy layers that I do not think that it would be a great example of what a “normal” chicken heart should look like! Maybe they are, but I’d need a bigger control group that includes more breeds.

Thank you!

If you've done lots of autopsies of birds, chances are you aleady have good idea of what you are looking for. Smooth, unblemished, uniform color, a particular red I don't see elsewhere in nature, with a reasonable but not excessive amount of fat. If you are willing to accept anecdotal reference, I'll offer this: One of my own birds - NOT a Frankenchicken or "broiler" breed, its an early culling of one of my dual purpose birds [WiP]

Images are few and far between. I'll see if I can find some. Best bet is to survey the literature of chicken heart DISEASES and hope there are both images AND a healthy heart photo for comparison. I did skim a handful of studies I'vm familiar with re: poultry heart health an nutrition, not a single picture. Sorry I can't offer more.

 

[allosaurusrock]

I greatly appreciate these responses! I will also take note of the shape of the hearts if I get some LF cockerels later this summer to process- local people give them to me.

In life, I’ve been culling birds that have frequent purpling at the end of their combs. I also try to prioritize breeding from older cock birds.