• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.8
• /
• pp.1178-1182
• /
• 2008

The present study was designed to assess the influence of caeca on the availability of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese and copper from soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, sesame, fish and meat cum bone meal in adult roosters. The excretion of endogenous origin minerals viz., copper, magnesium, manganese and calcium was significantly (p<0.001) higher in caecectomized than in normal roosters. The difference in the endogenous excretion was 50; 60.45; 40.35 and 29.63 per cent for copper, magnesium, manganese and calcium, respectively, in caecectomized roosters. The caeca played a pivotal role in the reabsorption of endogenous origin calcium, magnesium, manganese and copper. The mechanism of phosphorus absorption by the caecal epithelium was negligible. The caecectomized roosters underestimated the bioavailability of copper in sunflower meal and manganese in almost all the test feedstuffs. The present investigation revealed that the caeca played a critical role in the absorption of minerals from vegetable protein feedstuffs which escape digestion and absorption in the small and large intestinal segments.