~ 555 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2018; 6(3): 555-558 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2018; 6(3): 555-558 © 2018 JEZS Received: 29-03-2018 Accepted: 30-04-2018 D Mahanta Department of Veterinary Anatomy, C.V. A. Sc, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India M Mrigesh Department of Veterinary Anatomy, C.V. A. Sc., GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India S Sathapathy Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Histology, C.V. Sc. and A.H., OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India Tamilselvan S Department of Veterinary Anatomy, C.V. A. Sc, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Pandit K Department of Veterinary Anatomy, C.V. A. Sc, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Nath S Department of AGB, C.V. Sc., Khanapara, AAU, Assam, India Correspondence D Mahanta Department of Veterinary Anatomy, C.V. A. Sc, GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India Gross and morphometrical studies on the thymus, spleen and bursa of Fabricius of day old Kadaknath chick D Mahanta, M Mrigesh, S Sathapathy, Tamilselvan S, Pandit K and Nath S Abstract The present study was carried out on the six day old chicks of Kadaknath fowl procured from the Instructional Poultry Farm (IPF), Nagla, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The thymus was reddish- black in colour and consisted of two long chains of lobes located on either side of neck, which were embedded in the subdermal connective tissue. The spleen was globular in shape and bright red in colour. It was located on the right side of the junction between the proventriculus and gizzard. The bursa of Fabricius originated from the proctodeal wall of the cloaca and was placed dorsal to the rectum. It was oval in shape and whitish with blackish tinge in colour. The biometrical data revealed variable results that were specific for this breed. Keywords: Gross, biometry, thymus, spleen, bursa of Fabricius, Kadaknath Introduction Poultry production in India has taken a quantum leap in the last four decades, emerging from an unscientific farming practice to commercial production system with state-of-the art technological inventions [29] . Kadaknath is locally called as ‘Kalamasi’ as it is having black flesh. It is a native breed of Jhabua region of Madhya Pradesh, India. These birds are generally reared by tribals and rural poor farmers as an earning source and fulfillment of daily requirement of protein and minerals. It is also quite popular in Uttarakhand state whose poultry population has increased by 7.01% per annum from 2003 to 2007 [9, 10] . The major lymphoid organs of this bird consisted of thymus, spleen and bursa of Fabricius. The major components of body defense mechanism are the innate and acquired or adaptive immunity. Innate immunity includes physical barrier like skin and mucous membrane, complement and cells like granulocytes, thrombocytes, macrophages and natural killer cells. On the other hand, acquired or adaptive immunity is mediated by immunocompetent cells viz., humoral response B-cells, cell mediated response T-cells and some other cells like phagocytic and adherent cells [2] . All these immunocompetent cells are located mostly in the lymphoid organs. With the advancement of bird age, the distinction between the primary and secondary lymphoid organs becomes less apparent [23] . Though some work on lymphoid system of broiler chicken [13] , domestic chicken [12] , Japanese quail [22] , duck [27] , turkey [1] has been done, but still the knowledge on the thymus, spleen, bursa of Fabricius of day old chicks of Kadaknath fowl has not been explored. Keeping this fact in mind and viewing the increased popularity of the Kadaknath fowl, the present study was undertaken to develop a baseline data in this breed. Materials and methods The present study was carried out on the six day old chick of Kadaknath fowl procured from the Instructional Poultry Farm (IPF), Nagla, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar. The birds were sacrificed by cervical sub-luxation method. Feathers were removed manually and the organ of interest i.e. right and left thymus glands, spleen and bursa of Fabricius were carefully dissected out. The weight of all these organs were recorded separately by using digital balance (Sartorious, TE 214S) and the volume of these organs were measured by water displacement method. Thereafter, the length, width and thickness of each lobe of thymus, longitudinal diameter, transverse diameter and thickness of the spleen and bursa of Fabricius were recorded by using digital Vernier calipers (0-150mm). All the measurements recorded were statistically analyzed by estimating the Arithmetic Mean (A.M.), Standard Deviation (S.D.) and Standard Error (S.E.) as per the standard statistical methods given by [26] .