Diet and the Rate of Food Passage in the Growing Chick

Abstract

THE rate at which feed passes through the digestive tract of the chick may influence the nutrition of the chick by (1) determining the length of time during which nutrients may be absorbed, (2) determining the microbial population of the intestine and (3) limiting the daily feed intake. Studies on the rate of food passage have been made by Browne (1922), Kaupp and Ivey (1923), Keith, Card and Mitchell (1927), Heuser (1945), Hillerman, Kratzer and Wilson (1953) and others. Some of these studies, however, have been concerned only with the time elapsing before feed disappears from the crop. There has not been a great deal of study of the effect which different types of diets may have on the passage rate through the entire length of the digestive tract. Monson, Dietrich and Elvehjem (1950) reported that the excretion time of chickens fed different carbohydrates varied in the following decreasing order: . . .