The effect of bile acids and lipase on absorption of tallow in young chicks.

White leghorn chicks were fed diets with 4% tallow supplemented with one of the following bile acids at .04%: cholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, dehydrocholic acid, deoxycholic acid, or sodium taurocholate. Cholic acid improved the absorption of tallow but not significantly; chenodeoxycholic acid significantly improved tallow absorption during days 0 to 7 but decreased it during days 14 to 21. The bile acids, dehydrocholic acid, deoxycholic acid, and sodium taurocholate had no significant effect on absorption of tallow. In a 2 x 3 factorial design involving cholic acid and lipase, .04% cholic acid and/or .10% lipase significantly improved the absorption of tallow by 8 and 4% in chicks 1 and 3 weeks of age, respectively. Dry matter digestibility and efficiency appeared to be improved with the improvement of lipid absorption.