[Studies on the protein and amino acid metabolism of laying hens using 15N labeled casein. 15N concentration in the intestinal content and intestinal tissue in relation to the time of the last 15N administration].

Four laying hens with anus praeternaturalis were fed 15N casein for a period of 6 experimental days. Each experimental bird thus received a 15N excess (15N') of 154.44 mg. 11.54 mg of 15N' were found in lysine 3.99 mg in histidine and 9.58 mg in arginine. 2 hens were slaughtered 48 hours after the last 15N dose; another 2 were sacrificed after 144 hrs. In this investigation the N content of the intestinal contents and in the proteins of the small and large intestine were determined. The average N content of the small intestine per hen 2.65% that of the large intestine, 2.60% and, correspondingly, the TCE soluble proportion of N was 21.8% and 20.4%. The percentage of amino acids in the contents of the small intestine was found to change relative to that of the dietary proteins, approximating the protein composition of the intestine. In the first two hens the atom % 15N' was found in the different sections of the intestine and in the intestinal contents varied between 0.14 and 0.28. The data obtained from the two hens slaughtered 144 hours after the last 15N' dose were nearly the same ranging from 0.08 to 0.10 atom % 15n'.