Title: Comparison of Digestibility in Gizzardectomized and Normal Fowls
Abstract:FROM the time of Spallanzani (1784), and even before, experimental workers have been interested in the function of the gizzard. The work reported in the literature has indicated ways in which the gizz...FROM the time of Spallanzani (1784), and even before, experimental workers have been interested in the function of the gizzard. The work reported in the literature has indicated ways in which the gizzard might influence digestibility, but it has not demonstrated what effect the gizzard actually does have on the bird’s digestive ability. Most of the workers have studied the gizzard only in relation to the grinding of feed. However, Kaupp (1918), by inference, ascribes a function other than grinding to the gizzard. He states that near the entrance and at the posterior part of the gizzard are glands similar to those found in the pyloric portion of the stomach of mammals. The present knowledge of the mechanical action of the gizzard has been summarized by E. Mangold (1933) and Henry, Macdonald, and Magee (1933). The latter observed that coarse feed remained in the gizzard for a much longer period . . .Read More