Differential Passage of Cellulose and “CrCl3 in Three Non-Domestic Gallinaceous Species ,

Abstract

When Chukar partridge, Ruffed grouse, and Bobwhite quail were fed diets containing 9.6 and 1S.4 percent cellulose and dosed with 51 CrCla, the metabolizability coefficients for dry matter digested in the non-cecal gut were lower as calculated by the 51 CrCl3-ratio than when calculated by the cellulose-ratio technique. A differential movement of fluids carrying 61 CrCl 3 out of the non-cecal gut portions into the ceca in amounts greater than the remaining dry matter is proposed as an explanation. In consequence, it is believed that 61 CrCl 3 should not be considered a good indicator of quantitative differences between digestion in cecal or noncecal gut portions of birds.