Abstract:
From 10 individuals of male
and female sex, belonging to the
commercial meat hybrid COBB-500,
histological samples were collected from the
two twins leg muscles (lateral
gastrocnemius and medial gastrocnemius).
Sampling was done during the slaughter of
these birds at the age of 42 days, when they
had body weights of 2168-2296 grams,
depending on sex. Samples were processed
in conformity with the paraffin section
technique, resulting 20 histological slides,
which were studied with a photonic
binocular microscope. The device used (OM
MC3) permited direct cytometric
determinations on cross sections displayed
on the microscopic slides. The following
results were obtained: the mean thickness of
myocytes was 36.49 ± 0.59 μ, for the male
juveniles and 32.14 ± 0.61 μ, for the female
juveniles. These values were found in lateral
gastrocnemius muscle. Medial
gastrocnemius muscle myocytes had an
mean thickness of 36.15 ± 0.78 μ, on male
and 31,09 ± 0,68 μ in females. Muscle fiber
density was 485.89 to 488.55 fm/mm2, for
males and from 698.06 to 699.67 fm/mm2 in
females. Differences between the twin leg
muscles are statistically insignificant in all
indicators examined, while for the two
sexes, these differences are statistically
significant.
