21.07.2017

New research indicates that the ‘Wooden Breast’ pathology has existed for decades and researchers have proposed a new name:  Superficial Pectoral Myodegeneration and Sclerosis: Broiler Breast Myopathy (BBM). A research project at North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, N.C., concluded that wooden breast condition has existed in broiler chickens since the 1950s. While the lesions were discovered to be more severe in modern day broilers, the condition was evident in the 1950s line as well and the microscopic evidence of the lesions in the breast muscles were present in all lines of the broilers at two weeks of age. Scar tissue replaces damaged muscle, which contributes to muscle hardness (wooden breast). Additional space from lost muscle can fill with fat, which helps explain the relationship between BBM and ‘white striping’. 
Researchers detected a correlation between the inflammation of small veins (lymphocytic phlebitis) in the breast tissue and the severity of muscle damage. No cause for the vascular damage is known, but a virus has been isolated from affected muscles. Learning more about the virus and its possible role in BBM is the objective of a current research project.