SECRETION OF URINE IN THE CHICKEN (GALLUS DOMESTICUS)

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Abstract
Urine secretion of chickens was observed by 3 methods; the ureters were cannulated under local infiltration anesthesia and the output of urine detd. for limited periods; similar observations were made by the catheter (funnel) technic of Davis and of Coulson and Hughes; and ureteral orifices were exteriorized by operative procedures here descr. and the urine output measured for periods as long as 24 hrs. The water intake of normal birds and of birds with exteriorized ureteral orifices was detd. The normal daily intake of water and likewise the normal daily vol. of urine secreted by the chicken was small. In 18 collections from 7 birds the largest vol. secreted in periods as long as 24 hrs. was 123. 5 cc. The daily intake of water ranged from 50 to 250 cc. The normal urine of birds is a cream-colored, thick, tenacious, mucoid material containing an abundance of urates which readily settle out, forming a semi-solid mass. The pH of samples taken under different exptl. conditions varied from 6. 22 to 6. 7. The degree of disturbance incident to preparing the chicken for observations on urine secretion was apparently sufficient to cause considerable diuresis in some birds. Statements to the effect that the water in the urine of birds is absorbed by the mucosa of the cloaca are questioned. The cloaca of the bird is analogous to the bladder of the mammal and under normal conditions the urine is concentrated by the kidneys and stored in the cloaca in whatever state it is received from the ureters. The conc. of urine in the cloaca would presuppose selective absorption of water by the cloacal mucosa, which, judging from the data, does not appear to be a necessary hypothesis.

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