System: Nanozoomer

Masson trichrome staining of chicken footpad skin. The footpad skin of chicken feet is covered with multiple reticular scales that have a papillary form. The structure of these papillae includes a thick outer layer called stratus corneum (brown) followed by epidermis (pink), dermis (blue), and subcutaneous tissue (blue and white). Chicken feet or paws have become the third most important economic part of the chicken, with chicken paws accounting for approximately $280 million a year. Footpad dermatitis (FPD) is a type of skin inflammation that causes necrotic lesions on the plantar surface of footpads in broilers and turkeys, which causes downgrades and condemnations of saleable chicken paws. Novus International is studying the structure integrity of footpad skin and pathology of FPD, in order to provide nutritional strategies to prevent and/or intervene development of footpad lesions and promote wound healing in commercial poultry.