Absorption and fate of canthaxanthin in chicken

Male Hubbard chickens were fed on a diet supplemented with canthaxanthin. The carotenoid was chemically unmodified during its absorption of distribution. Pigment was preferentially stored in the skin of legs. The percent distribution of carotenoid in the different organs did not vary with the administered dose or during the treatment. Digestibility, expressed as the ratio absorbed: ingested pigment, was maximal in the first day, and then decreased. Digestibility was dependent on the animal body weight.