Effect of colostomy on the utilisation of dietary nitrogen in the fowl fed on a low protein diet.

Abstract

1. The effect of the inhibition of urine back-flow into the colon and caeca by colostomy on the utilisation of dietary nitrogen by fowls fed on a low protein diet and receiving free or restricted water supply was investigated. 2. Colostomy caused an increase in water excretion and a resultant increase in water intake to maintain water balance. 3. Colostomy tended to decrease nitrogen balance and nitrogen utilisation (N balance/N intake) to negative values, and these decreases became significant when water was restricted (P less than 0.05). 4. Excretory uric acid, ammonia, urea and total nitrogen were significantly increased after colostomy in water-restricted fowls (P less than 0.05), but such significant effects were not observed, except for ammonia, in fowls given water ad libitum. 5. It is concluded that the back-flow of urine into the caeca plays a significantly useful role in the utilisation of nitrogen in the fowl fed on a low protein diet especially when water intake is restricted.