Effect of cecectomy on water and nutrient absorption of birds

The effect of the removal of the avian digestive ceca on osmoregulation and on absorption of certain nutrients is reviewed. While data indicate that the ceca have the potential for absorption of a significant quantity of water, several studies have demonstrated that effects of cecectomy on water intake and output are transitory and that compensatory adjustments made within 2 to 3 weeks postsurgery allow cecectomized birds to eat and gain weight normally. However, cecectomized great horned owls exposed to 27 degrees C turned over their body water 1.6 times faster than intact owls under the same conditions, suggesting that the ceca do have a vital role in water balance of thermally stressed horned owls. Cecectomy resulted in slightly lower metabolizability of food, lower digestibility of crude fiber in low fiber diets, and greater loss of certain amino acids in cecectomized birds that were fasted or fed a protein-free diet. The latter suggests that the ceca are important in recovery of amino acids endogenous protein degradation. Loss of cecal function also resulted in higher energy intake and excretion in Japanese quail, amounting to 5.7% of the total daily energy requirement.