Improved colostomy technique and excrement (urine) collection device for broilers and broiler breeder hens

In conducting nutritional experiments using chickens, scientists are limited in determining the urinary excretion of nutrients because of the difficulty of separating urine from feces. Our main objective was to improve the colostomy procedure for urine collection in broilers and both urine and egg collection for broiler breeder hens. Ketamine HCl (10 to 30 mg/kg i.m.) in combination with Xylazine (2 to 6 mg/kg i.m.) was used to anesthetize broilers (4 wk old) and broiler breeder hens (25 wk old). The colostomy technique involved: 1) transecting the distal colon at approximately 1.5 to 2 cm from the proximal cloaca and ligating the distal colonic segment with 3-0 absorbable surgical suture, 2) ligating the seromuscular coat of the colon to the peritoneal tissue at 3 points in a triangular shape using 4-0 silk suture, 3) ligating the mesentery at the skin level to prevent continued bleeding of the colostomy stoma, and 4) placing 3 sutures using a triangulation technique that consisted of the seromuscular aspect of the transected proximal colonic segment and the skin, and finally, 5) suturing all exteriorized edges of the transected proximal colonic segment after mucosal eversion to the skin with simple interrupted sutures using absorbable suture. For the purpose of urine or egg collection or both, the appropriate size of drainable pouch with a curved tail closure was used. Feces were collected on a tray. The colostomized broilers could be kept for several days and the colostomized broiler breeder hens for several months to collect urine, eggs (for breeder hens), and feces separately without the problem of cross-contamination.