English

Abstract

The primary goal of this study was to document the gross morphological and histological structure and histomorphometrical measurements of the intestines and digestive glands of ostrich (Struthio camelus) in relation to advancing age and sex. A total of 40 clinically healthy ostriches of either sex [(20 males, 20 females comprising of two age groups, viz, immature (1 month to 2.4 years) and adult (2.5 to 10 years)] of equal size were selected. Immediately after collection, morphological studies were carried out on all organs. Histological and histometrical studies were conducted on paraffin-embedded tissue sections with Image J® analysis software. Macroscopic parameters of the intestines, liver and pancreas invariably showed a rapid increase (P<0.05) during immature age but maintained a plateau with negligible increment in an adult age group. Contrary to other avian species, the length of the small intestine in adult ostriches was 706 cm and the large intestine was 1218 cm which means the length of the large intestine is 1.73 times greater than the small intestine. The length of the colon is also larger than the comparable avian species which increases the digestion of fiber. Thicknesses of all layers of intestines and various parameters of digestive glands had a significant (P<0.05) increase in adults compared to immature ostriches. The growth and maturation of digestive organs in ostriches were not related to sex in each age group. These findings can be extremely beneficial for strategic manipulation of feed and nutrition to enhance the growth rate and diagnose pathological processes.