Fat utilization in relation to intestinal fatty acid binding protein and bile salts in chicks of different ages and different genetic sources.

New Hampshire chicks utilized dietary fat more efficiently than did broiler-type or White Leghorn chicks. The difference was more pronounced with tallow than with corn oil. Utilization of fat by all three types of chicks increased until the chicks were about six weeks old. At hatching, the concentration of fatty acid binding protein (FABP) in the intestine of the broiler-type chicks was significantly less than in the New Hampshire and White Leghorn chicks. Concentration of FABP declined during the first 1 to 2 weeks of life and then increased. By four weeks of age the breed differences in concentration of FABP in the intestine were no longer apparent. At some time after four weeks of age, FABP reached maximum concentrations in the intestinal tissue of the chicks of different breeds and thereafter declined as a proportion of the total intestinal tissue. Broiler-type chicks, which did not utilize fat as efficiently as did New Hampshire chicks in the first weeks of life, displayed lower concentrations in the proximal third of the intestine and higher concentrations in the remainder of the intestine than was the case with the New Hampshire chicks. A high level of dietary fat or dietary supplementation with sodium taurocholate increased the concentration of FABP in the intestine.