Relation of the Rate of Feathering to the Development of Keel Bursae

VARIOUS attempts have been made to determine the cause of keel bursae or cysts and to prevent their occurrence in market poultry. Reporting upon the morphology of keel cysts, O’Neil (1943) suggested that they form as a measure of protection, either for the skin or for the keel, at the point of contact with the roost. Bird (1944) concluded “that keel bursae afford a beneficient protection against more serious injury which otherwise might result from the pressure exerted by the keel of relatively deep birds against the perch during roosting, and that freedom from bursae in rapidly growing birds can only be expected in families of inherited relative shallowness of body.” Hodgson and Gutteridge (1941) found that, while the type of roost had little effect, the brooding and/or rearing of chickens on wire floors increased the incidence of keel cysts. They noted sex and breed differences, males being more commonly . . .