Gut-associated lymphoid tissue in the chicken. I. Morphology, ontogeny, and some functional characteristics of Peyer's patches.

Lymphoid aggregates with many of the characteristics of mammalian Peyer's patches (PP) were identified in the chicken intestine. These chicken PP could not be seen with the naked eye at the time of hatching, but by 10 days of age, 1 or 2 PP were identified in 50% of the birds. Up to 16 wk of age, the numbers of PP increased to a maximum of 5 per animal and they were widely scattered in the intestine, apart from one that was regularly found …