LAUSR

This study was aimed to investigate the morphology, growth, histological structure and development of the spleen of the Chinese yellow quail at different ages(from 0 to 38 weeks). The yellow Quail spleen was spherical, brownish red, located at the right dorsal of the junction of the muscle stomach and glandular stomach. The absolute quality, length and width of the spleen gradually increased with age, reaching a maximum for each of these measurements at the age of 6 weeks and then remainied unchanged between 10 and 26 weeks of age. Finally, these measurements of the spleen were no significant difference at 30 weeks of age compared to at 34 to 38 weeks (P>0.05). Although, these measurements were found to gradually decrease during 30-38 weeks of age, the decrease was not obvious. The basic structure of the spleen included red pulp, white pulp and the edge area. In addition, the average area and diameter of the splenic nodules, the white pulp ellipsoid and the periarterial lymphatic sheath gradually increased, reaching maximum sizes at the age of 26 weeks. It was seen that a sustained developmental period occurred at 0-6 weeks of age and a maturation period occurred at 10-38 weeks during the development of quail spleen.