Histological And Histochemical Studies On The Digestive Tract Of Turkeys At Different Ages

The normal structure of the digestive tract of the turkey, and its development at various stages, was studied using LM, SEM and TEM. The period covered includedpost-fertilization to post-hatching.The histological structure of the turkey gut is very similar to that of the chicken digestive tract, except that 1) the muscularis mucosae always consists of only one layer ofsmooth muscle; and 2) the esophageal glands open into a crypt-like structure close to the hriimC’f During early post fertilization development, the esophageal lumen appears star-in cross section, with a lining epithelium of two layers of cuboidal cells. No .. a1 buds of mucous glands were observed at early stages. The development of the was similar to that of the esophagus except that the lumen was rounded and not .e in shape. Wis glands appeared as epithelial buds within the lamina propria, and later formed a of a single layer of low columnar to high cuboidal cells. The muscularis mucosae an incomplete ring of elongate mesenchymal cells which developed between the propria and tugrooves with the glands opening into these. The basal layer of the liningm projected down to form the papillae of the lamina propria. The esophagealopened to the lumen by short ducts through the lining epithelium.The structure of the crop was the same as that of the esophagus except there were s and the thickness of the stratified squamous epithelium was greater.