- Nov 11, 2014
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Feed the chickens. 24-26 hours later, they lay an egg. Have you ever wondered what happens in between? While chickens need to eat to stay healthy just as people do, a bird’s digestive anatomy is quite different than ours. Here are a few key aspects:
1. The crop
Chickens don’t have teeth and they are a prey animal, so they can’t waste much time chewing. Instead, they swallow food quickly and store it away in their crop. Within the crop, very little digestion occurs. Feed will combine with water and some good bacteria to soften food particles before moving through the system. The feed in the crop will be released to the rest of the digestive tract throughout the day.
2. The proventriculus
The proventriculus is equivalent to the human stomach. This is where digestion really begins in the bird. Stomach acid combines with pepsin, a digestive enzyme, to start the breakdown of feed into smaller pieces. Feed passes through here quickly. Unlike humans, feed doesn’t stay here very long.
3. The ventriculus or gizzard
Since chickens don’t have teeth, they need a way to grind feed into smaller pieces. The gizzard is a muscle that uses friction to grind the feed into smaller pieces so the nutrients can be digested and absorbed by the rest of the digestive tract. Once the feed has been reduced in size, it passes into the small intestine.
4. Nutrient absorption
Nutrients are then absorbed through the small intestine and passed into the bloodstream. These absorbed nutrients are used for building feathers, bones, eggs and more. Many of these essential nutrients must be provided through the diet.
For example, methionine is an essential amino acid, that must be provided through the diet. Like all amino acids, methionine comes from protein sources and is needed at the cellular level to build specific proteins used for feathering, growth, reproduction and egg production.
Do you have questions about how a chicken digests feed? Post them below and we’ll ask our nutrition expert, Dr. Patrick Biggs.
1. The crop
Chickens don’t have teeth and they are a prey animal, so they can’t waste much time chewing. Instead, they swallow food quickly and store it away in their crop. Within the crop, very little digestion occurs. Feed will combine with water and some good bacteria to soften food particles before moving through the system. The feed in the crop will be released to the rest of the digestive tract throughout the day.
2. The proventriculus
The proventriculus is equivalent to the human stomach. This is where digestion really begins in the bird. Stomach acid combines with pepsin, a digestive enzyme, to start the breakdown of feed into smaller pieces. Feed passes through here quickly. Unlike humans, feed doesn’t stay here very long.
3. The ventriculus or gizzard
Since chickens don’t have teeth, they need a way to grind feed into smaller pieces. The gizzard is a muscle that uses friction to grind the feed into smaller pieces so the nutrients can be digested and absorbed by the rest of the digestive tract. Once the feed has been reduced in size, it passes into the small intestine.
4. Nutrient absorption
Nutrients are then absorbed through the small intestine and passed into the bloodstream. These absorbed nutrients are used for building feathers, bones, eggs and more. Many of these essential nutrients must be provided through the diet.
For example, methionine is an essential amino acid, that must be provided through the diet. Like all amino acids, methionine comes from protein sources and is needed at the cellular level to build specific proteins used for feathering, growth, reproduction and egg production.
Do you have questions about how a chicken digests feed? Post them below and we’ll ask our nutrition expert, Dr. Patrick Biggs.
