Enlarged sternal bursa and focal ulcerative dermatitis in male turkeys

Abstract

The constant economic pressure on poultry producers to lower their costs and increase the quality of their products has been a big challenge in today's competitive world. Moreover, the confinement of turkeys has been linked with several kinds of breast skin lesions, mainly enlarged sternal bursa (ESB), or breast blister, and focal ulcerative dermatitis (FUD), or breast button. Both of these conditions (particularly ESB) are believed to cost the turkey industry large amounts of money each year because of the need to trim the breast and the consequent downgrading of the carcass. In addition, they cost the processing plant time by slowing down the production line because of the need to employ more personnel to carry out the work of breast trimming. This paper reviews investigations into the possible causes of the lesions and concludes that many factors (strain, early body weight, photoperiod, stress, litter and floor type) influence their development.