CHICKEN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY:

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
By Jacquie Jacob and Tony Pescatore
An understanding of the avian digestive system is essential to developing a feeding
program for your poultry flock. A knowledge of chicken anatomy, and what the parts
normally look like, will also help you to recognize when something is wrong and take
the necessary actions to correct the problem.

Figure 1. Model showing the internal organs of the female chicken

The digestive tract of any animal, including chickens, is important in converting the
food they eat into the nutrients their body needs for maintenance, growth, and produc-
tion (such as eggs). Once food is eaten, it must be broken down into its basic compo-
nents. This is done through both mechanical and chemical means.
• Mechanical action typically involves chewing, but since birds don’t have teeth
other mechanical methods are used and will be discussed later in this publication.
• Chemical action includes the release of digestive enzymes and fluids from the
stomach, pancreas and liver.
Once the nutrients have been released from food during digestion, they can be ab-
sorbed and distributed throughout the animal’s body.

The digestive tract is also referred to as the gastro-intestinal or GI tract. Which ever
term is used, in chickens it begins at the mouth and ends at the cloaca and has sev-
eral important organs in between (see the Figure 2 below).

Figure 2. Labeled photograph of the digestive tract of a chicken

Photograph by Jacquie Jacob

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Beak / Mouth: Chickens, as with most birds, obtain feed with the use of their beak.
Food picked up by the beak enters the mouth. As previously mentioned, chickens do
not have teeth so they are not able to chew their food. The mouth does contain glands
which secrete saliva which wets the feed to make it easier to swallow. The saliva also
contains some enzymes which start the digestion of the food eaten. The chicken’s
tongue is then used to push the feed to the back of the mouth so that it can be swal-
lowed.

Did you know: Chickens swallow water differently than

we do. While they use their tongue to push food to the
back of the throat this is not very effective when swallow-
ing water. We close our mouths and let our throats do the
swallowing. Chickens, however open and close their
mouths rapidly while tilting their heads up, since they
need gravity to do move the water down their throats.
Source: USDA/ARS

Esophagus: The esophagus is a flexible tube that connects the mouth with the rest of
the digestive tract. It carries food from the mouth to the crop and from the crop to the
proventriculus.

Crop: The crop is an out-pocketing of the esophagus and is located just outside the
body cavity in the neck region (see Figure 3 below). Any swallowed feed and water is
stored in the crop until it is time to move on to the rest of the digestive tract. When the
crop is empty, or nearly empty, it sends hunger signals to the brain so that the chicken
will eat more.
Figure 3. Photograph showing the location of the crop in
a chicken. The crop is located just outside the body cav-
ity in the neck region.

Photograph by Jacquie Jacob

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Although the mouth excretes the digestive enzyme amylase, very little, digestion actu-
ally takes place in the crop – it is simply a temporary storage pouch. The crop evolved
for birds that are typically hunted by other animals but which need to move to the open
to find feed. These birds are able to consume relatively large amounts of food quickly
and then move to a more secure location to digest the food they consumed.

Occasionally the crop becomes impacted or ’backed up’ (crop impaction, also re-
ferred to as crop binding or pendulous crop). This may occur when chickens go a
long time without feed. This will cause the chickens to eat too much too fast when the
feed becomes available again. A crop may also become impacted in a chicken that is
free-ranged on a pasture of tough, fibrous vegetation. Crop impaction can also result
when the chickens eat a long piece of string. With a crop impaction, even if a chicken
continues to eat, the feed can not get past the impacted crop. The swollen crop may
also cut off the windpipe, suffocating the chicken.

Proventriculus: The esophagus continues past the crop to connect the crop to the
proventriculus. The proventriculus (also known as the ‘true stomach’) is the glandular
stomach where digestion begins. As with human stomachs, hydrochloric acid and di-
gestive enzymes (e.g., pepsin) are added to the feed here and digestion begins. At this
point, however, the food has not yet been ground up. The term ‘proventriculus’ is used
since it comes before the ‘ventriculus’ or gizzard, with ‘pro’ being a Latin terming mean-
ing before.

Figure 4. Photographs of the front and back views of the proventriculus and gizzard
Gizzard Gizzard

Proventriculus
Proventriculus

Photographs by Jacquie Jacob

Gizzard / Ventriculus: The gizzard, or ventriculus, is a part of the digestive tract

unique to birds. It is often referred to as the ‘mechanical stomach’. It is made up of
two sets of strong muscles which act as the bird’s teeth (see Figure 4 above). Con-
sumed feed and the digestive juices from the salivary glands and the proventriculus
pass into the gizzard for grinding, mixing, and mashing.

When allowed to free-range, chickens will typically eat small stones. These stones re-
main in the gizzard until they become ground into pieces small enough to pass through
to the rest of the digestive tract. The stones/pebbles are weakened by the acidic envi-
ronment created in the proventriculus and then are ground into tiny pieces by the
strong muscles of the gizzard.
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Chickens fed only commercially prepared feed do not need grit. If, however, whole
grains are fed, it is necessary to provide small pebbles, typically given as grit. Grit is a
commercial product made up of small stones. It should not be confused with limestone
or oyster shell which are given to laying hens as a source of calcium for their shells.

Warning: Do NOT give chicks oyster shell or limestone. These are NOT
grit. Oyster shell and/or limestone are often given to laying hens to pro-
vide the extra calcium they need for egg shell formation. This extra cal-
cium, however, will cause bone development problems in chicks. The
kidneys can be damaged as well.

Chickens kept on pasture will also require supplementation with grit, though many of
them may consume enough pebbles when they forage.

Gizzards have a thick lining which protects their muscles (see Figures 5 and 6 below).
When chickens are slaughtered, the gizzards are often saved, the lining removed, and
the gizzard consumed by the family or sold as a food item. While many people use
chicken gizzards in home-made pet food (typically dogs and cats) they can also be a
human food item, eaten alone or as part of a recipe.

Figure 5. Photograph of the inside of

the proventriculus and gizzard (Note:
the blue straw indicates the exit from Figure 6. Photograph of the inside
the gizzard to the small intestine. of the gizzard with the inner lining
removed.

Photograph by Jacquie Jacob Photograph by Jacquie Jacob

When a chicken eats a small, sharp object such as a tack or staple, the object is likely
to get stuck in the gizzard. Because of the strong grinding motion of the gizzard’s mus-
cles, these sharp objects may eventually put a whole in the gizzard wall. Chickens with
damaged gizzards will grow thin and eventually die – a very good reason to keep your
poultry houses free of nails, glass shards, bits of wire and the like.

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Small intestine: The small intestine is made up of the duodenum (also referred to as
the duodenal loop) and the lower small intestine. The duodenum receives digestive
enzymes and bicarbonate (to counter the hydrochloric acid from the proventriculus)
from the pancreas and bile from the liver via the gall bladder. The digestive enzymes
produced by the pancreas are primarily involved in protein digestion. Bile is a deter-
gent that is important in the digestion of lipids and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
(vitamins A, D, E and K). The remainder of the digestion occurs in the duodenum and
the released nutrients are absorbed mainly in the lower small intestine. The lower
small intestine is composed of two parts, the jejunum and ileum. The Merkel’s Diver-
ticulum marks the end of the jejunum and the start of the ileum.

Jejunum Merkel’s
Diverticulum
Figure 7. Photograph showing the

↓
positioning of the Merkel’s Diver-
ticulum between the jejunum and
ileum portions of the small intesti-
nal tract. Ileum

Photograph by Jacquie Jacob

The pancreas plays important roles in both the digestive and hormonal
systems. It secretes hormones into the blood system that are important in
the regulation of blood sugar.

In the developing embryo the yolk sac supplies the nutrients needed for it to develop
and grow. Right before hatch, the yolk sac is taken into the navel cavity of the embryo.
The residual tiny sac is the Merkel’s Diverticulum (see Figure 7 above).

The material remaining in the yolk immediately after hatch is able to supply the feed
and water needs of the newly hatched chicken. This is why it is possible to ship chicks
long distances without adverse affects, as is done when chicks are purchased online
and shipped via the postal service.

Omphalitis is a condition characterized by infected yolk sacs, often accompanied by

unhealed navels in recently hatched chicks. It is infectious but not contagious. It is of-
ten associated with excessive humidity and marked contamination of the hatching
eggs or incubator. The affected chicks usually appear normal until a few hours before
death. Depression, drooping of the head, and huddling near the heat source usually
are the only signs. The navel may be inflamed and fail to close, producing a wet spot
on the abdomen; a scab may be present.

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Ceca (plural form; singular = cecum): The ceca are two blind pouches located where
the small and large intestines join. Some of the water remaining in the fecal material is
reabsorbed here. Another important function of the ceca is the fermentation of any re-
maining coarse materials. In doing so they produce several fatty acids as well as the
eight B vitamins (Thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, biotin, folic
acid and vitamin B12). Because the ceca are located so close to the end of the diges-
tive tract, however, very little of the produced nutrients are absorbed and available to
the animal.

The ceca empty their contents two or three times a day, producing pasty droppings
that often smell worse than regular droppings. Cecal droppings typically have a mus-
tard to dark brown in color. The number of times cecal droppings are ‘pooped’, as
well as their color and texture, tell you that the chicken’s digestive tract is functionally
normally.

Large intestine (also known as the colon): Despite the name, the large intestine is
actually shorter than the small intestine. The large intestine is where the last of the wa-
ter re-absorption occurs.

Cloaca: In the cloaca there is a mixing of the digestive wastes together with wastes
from the urinary system (urates). Fecal material is usually voided as digestive waste
with white uric acid crystals on the outer surface (i.e., chickens do not urinate/pee).
The reproductive tract also exits through this area (e.g., eggs or sperm).

Figure 8. A photograph of ‘normal’ chicken fecal

material show the dark fecal material with a
coating of white uric acid crystals

Photograph by Jacquie Jacob

The color and texture of chicken fecal material can indicate the health status of the
chicken’s digestive tract. The white pasty material that commonly coats chicken fecal
material is uric acid, the avian form of urine, and is normal (see Figure 8 below).

Some of the possible abnormal color and texture changes that can occur, together with
possible causes, are shown below. These are just possible causes—any sick birds
should be diagnosed by a veterinarian.

Appearance of Feces
Droppings with blood = coccidiosis
Greenish droppings = late stages of worms (or has eaten a lot of green
vegetables if free-ranged)
White, milky runny droppings = worms, coccidiosis, Gumboro disease
(Infectious Bursal Disease)

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 Appearance of Feces (continued)
Brown runny droppings = E. coli infection
Clear or watery runny droppings = stress, Infectious Bronchitis
Yellow & foamy droppings = coccidiosis
Grayish white & running continuously = vent gleet (a chronic disease of the
cloaca of domestic birds)

Intestinal Microflora

Both the small and large intestine are normally populated by beneficial bacteria, re-
ferred to as microflora (‘micro’ meaning small and ‘flora’ meaning plants). This popula-
tion of microflora are important since they aid in digestion. Intestinal disease normally
occurs when the balance of normal microflora is upset or the normal microflora is over-
run by too many foreign organisms. The result is enteritis or inflammation of the intes-
tines, producing symptoms that include diarrhea, increased thirst, dehydration, loss of
appetite, weakness, and weight loss or slow growth.

When the damage to the intestinal tract is severe it is typically referred to as necrotic
enteritis. ‘Necrotic’ means ‘dead tissue’ while ‘enteritis’ refers to an inflammation of the
intestinal tract. Necrotic enteritis is a problem in many different types of production sys-
tems.

So where do these ‘beneficial’ bacteria come from? When chicks hatch their digestive
tracts are virtually sterile. If raised by a mother hen, they would obtain the beneficial
microflora by consuming some of their mother’s fecal material. This is not possible in
artificial incubation and brooding. Probiotics are a collection of the normal beneficial
microflora that would inhabit a chicken’s digestive tract. By spraying it in the shipping
boxes or supplying it in the first feed the chicks receive the ’good’ bacteria that they
need to fight off infection by pathogenic bacteria, such as salmonella.