Morphological development of the small intestine in white Roman goslings

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the morphological development of small intestinal segments in white Roman goslings from hatching to 28 days of age. Forty day-old male goslings were used in this experiment. Eight goslings were selected randomly at hatching, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of age, respectively. The small intestinal segments were sampled from six goslings for intestinal structure observation by light microscopy and from two male goslings for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The villus height, width, perimeter, area, crypt depth, muscle thickness and height/width ratio significantly (P < 0.05) increased during the first four weeks post-hatching. The villus width of duodenum continued to increase (P < 0.05) until 28 days of age, whereas the jejunum and ileum villus width reached a peak at 21 days of age. The development of villus height, area and crypt depth increased two to three times in the small intestine of goslings from hatching to 28 days of age. The area of villi in the duodenum and jejunum were significantly larger (P < 0.05) than that in the ileum. The villus muscle depth of the ileum was greatest (P < 0.05) and villus height and perimeter of jejunum were greatest (P < 0.05) among the intestinal segments at 28 days of age. Duodenal villus width increased faster but crypt and muscle thickness became thinner than other intestinal segments (P < 0.05). The variables regressing the size and shape of villi in the smal intestine increased linearly (P < 0.05 to 0.001) in the small intestine. The surface of each segment villi of the small intestine exhibited different types. At hatching, the villi of duodenum and jejunum had a small and dense finger-like shape, followed by a more developed plate or tongue-like at four weeks of age. Ileal villi developed to finger-like with a round tip during the early growth period.

Keywords: Geese, small intestine, villi, morphological development

African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(6), pp. 611-617