Adaptation of the Chick to Dietary Energy Source

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Abstract
One-day-old chicks were maintained from 0 to 14 days with high-carbohydrate (CHO) or high-fat (fat) diets. The chicks were then given fatty acid or glucose labeled with C14 and placed in metabolism cages. Excreta and respiratory CO2 were collected for 24 hours to determine C14 dose retention and C14 O2 production. Production of C14 O2 was used as an index of fatty acid or glucose oxidation. Fat-fed chicks oxidized fatty acid at a maximal rate regardless of age, dietary choline level or dietary fatty acid level. The CHO-fed chicks oxidized fatty acid maximally at one day of age, but the rate decreased with age. Diet had no effect on the oxidation of glucose-C14. Feeding the fat diet to CHO-adapted chicks at the time of fatty acid-C14 administration resulted in an increase of fatty acid oxidation to levels comparable to fat adapted chicks. When glucose-C14 was administered, tissues of chicks fed the CHO diet contained approximately 3 times as much radioactivity in the fat-soluble fraction as did the tissues of chicks fed fat. The results are discussed in terms of growth response to dietary fat.

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