Green Muscle Disease or Deep Pectoral Myopathy (DPM) of Broilers

Published: March 17, 2015

By: Christopher Hettiarachchi, Managing Director (Industrial Microbiologist) M.Sc.(Ind.Mcb.), PGD (Ind.Mcb.), B.Sc.(Biol)

Unopened breast muscles, no visible lesions of DPM externally.

Green Muscle Disease or Deep Pectoral Myopathy (DPM) of Broilers - Image 1

The breast muscles have been cut open and note the complete degeneration of minor pectoral muscle forming a cheesy material, probably the very late stage of the disease.

Green Muscle Disease or Deep Pectoral Myopathy (DPM) of Broilers - Image 2

Another stage of the disease, probably the early stage of third phase which is characterized by greening of minor pectoral muscle.

Green Muscle Disease or Deep Pectoral Myopathy (DPM) of Broilers - Image 3

Dissected muscle to show severe hemorrhaging persisting at the early phase of third stage of the disease.

Green Muscle Disease or Deep Pectoral Myopathy (DPM) of Broilers - Image 4

Observations revealed follows causes for the condition;

Removing birds several times from the cage with bad bird catching practices which cause sudden flight (sudden wing flapping).
Raking litter by inexperience farm assistants during latter part of the cycle causing birds to become excited which causing sudden flight of birds.

As green muscle disease is a serious quality problem and cannot be observed externally, zero tolerance should be practiced and following measures could help to prevent it;

Showing images of green muscle disease, particularly the third stage to farm workers would help them to understand the seriousness of the problem.
Educating the farm assistants and catching crew on how to handle birds during catching and raking.
If the operation is integrated with the processing, monitoring of skin damages at the processing plant would give some clues of farm management.
Handling workers disputes at the broiler farm promptly is important.