Marked differences in the splanchnometry of farm-bred and wild red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa L.).
Relative weights of heart, spleen, pancreas, and liver and the relative lengths of the small intestine and the cecum were taken from 40 farm-bred and 43 wild juvenile red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa Linnaeus) in central Spain. Expressed as a ratio to head and body length, farm-bred partridges had lighter hearts (17% lighter), spleens (78%), and livers (29%) and shorter small intestines (15%) and cecae (20%), than wild birds of the same age. When expressed as a ratio to body weight, farm-bred juvenile red-legged partridges had lighter hearts (12%) and livers (23%) and shorter small intestines (9%) and cecae (12%) than wild partridges. Those differences might have been produced by diet differences (such as fiber-poor, high-energy feeds used on farms) and may affect the survival of farm-bred partridges after release.
Millán
J
J
Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (CSIC-UCLM-JCCLM), Ciudad Real, Spain. jmillan@irec.uclm.es
Gortázar
C
C
Villafuerte
R
R
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002432:Cecum / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D009929:Organ Size; D011200:Poultry / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014781:Viscera / Q000033:anatomy & histology*