Técnica Radiográfica em Lesão Discondroplásica em Frangos de Cortes

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the improvement of the radiographic technique for the early detection of dyschondroplastic lesions in the tibia of broiler chickens in the city of Formiga, MG, Brazil. The experiment was conducted on the premises of UNIFOR/ MG, in the city of Formiga, and UNIFENAS, in the city of Alfenas. Four hundred and twenty one-day-old male chicks of the Cobb lineage were used. With 20 days of age, all the birds were radiographed and an alpha-numeric ring was placed in the lower right leg. Fourth-two chicks were previously selected on the basis of scores received by the bone mineral density and thickness of the lesions, and confined as long as 40 days. On day 40, after being radiographic again to determine new scores, the birds were killed for the removal of the right tibia for the microscopic and histological evaluation of the growth plate. Nonparametric statistical analyses were used with the chi-square test at the 5% significance level. It was possible to verify that the techniques using x-rays correlate with the macroscopic and histological examinations, and that no significant differences were found between the techniques (P>0.05). This study indicates that the use of x-rays for identifying dyschondroplasia in broiler chickens do not require the use of bone mineral density to diagnose dyschondroplastic lesions.