Abstract
The present experiment was performed to investigate a method of indicating the absorptive power of the intestine using the difference in the absorption per surface area of intestinal mucosa in chickens. For this purpose, some factors, such as a change in the mucosal surface area under various conditions and differences in relative ratios of weight, length and surface area of several parts of the intestine using a variety of chicken's breeds were used and the following results were obtained.
(1) The changes of mucosal surface area of intestine with the lapse of time after the take out from body were measured using the intestine stored in unairconditioned room (20±°C, 1-7 hrs) and in refrigerator (7±1°C, 1-70 hrs). The values in an unairconditioned room and in a refrigerator were relatively steady at 2-3 hrs and 40-50 hrs after the take out intestine from body, respectively.
(2) The relative ratios in weight, length and mucosal surface area were fairly different among the individual parts of the intestine and among the breeds of the chickens used. This might be due to a difference in the length of circomference and thickness of the intestinal tract by the breeds or the parts of intestine. From these results, it is concluded that the absorptive power of intestine can be more accurately evaluated by the absorption per surface area of mucosa than by the absorption per weight or length of the intestinal tract of chickens.
