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Comparative Pathomorphologic Studies on the Incidence of Fractures Associated with Leg Skeletal Pathology in Commercial Broiler Chickens.

The aim of the present investigation is to report the prevalence of spontaneous fractures associated with leg skeletal pathology and compromised welfare in commercial broiler chickens. Our studies focused on fractures of different leg segments (femur, tibiotarsus, tarsometatarsus) detected as incidental findings during pathoanatomic examinations in cases of rickets, tibial dyschondroplasia (TD), and femoral head necrosis (FHN). The morphogenetic and etiopathogenetic aspects of the findings were further investigated through histopathologic, bacteriologic, and bone mineral analyses. The gross anatomy study showed that in about 10% of bones affected by rickets-specific lesions, fractures of the proximal tibiotarsus were present. A relatively low percentage (6.5%) of fractures of the same anatomic location could be attributed to TD lesions. The highest prevalence of fractures (68.5%), mainly of the proximal femur, was associated with FHN and osteomyelites. The results from the large-scale field surveys allowed us to confirm that the prevalence of spontaneous bone fractures of the legs in broiler chickens was largely associated with FHN, rickets, and TD. The poor vascularization of the grown prehypertrophic cartilage in cases of rickets and TD, as well as the osteolytic lesions in FHN, resulted in degenerative, necrobiotic processes which may entail bone fractures.