The morphological and histological study of chicken left ovary during growth and development among Hy-line brown layers of different ages

Abstract

Chicken ovaries are known to develop asymmetrically and only the left ovary fully develops. Although both have been greatly investigated, a gap in scientific reports is still felt between 2-mo-old and sexual maturity. In this study, we aimed at investigating the changes in components that occur during growth to analyze the morphohistological correlation between the left ovary and the follicle development at different age stages in Gallus domesticus. The ovaries were harvested from 60 chickens aged 1 and 3-wk-old, 1, 2, 3, and 4-mo-old (n = 10 per age group), then fixed in AAF solution. Hematoxylin-and Eosin protocol was used to stain the tissue for microscopic observations. Results revealed that the left ovary exhibited an ovarian tissue, a site of follicular growth that displayed various shapes from smooth to greatly indented as the follicles differentiated. Atretic follicles at various regression stages were noticed frequently as the chicks grew in age from 3-wk-old onward along with their differentiation. Rete ovarii, remnants from the male homologs were observed throughout the whole study showing epoöphoron, connecting rete, and gland-like structures that tend to diminish with age. The feature of the left ovary is closely related to the follicular developmental stage, and the bigger and differentiated the follicles are, the more indented and irregular its epithelium appears. Atresia is a normal physiological process that we observed throughout the whole study. Also that, rete ovarii do not spontaneously arise in the ovary but it develops and grows in juvenile chicken as well as in adult ones.