Feed passes from the gizzard into the small intestine where digestion and absorption occur. The small intestine of a mature chicken is more than four and a half feet in length and has three distinct areas; the duodenum or the duodenal loop where the pancreas lies in the center, the jejunum, and the ileum. Collectively the jejunum and ileum are called the lower small intestine.
As food leaves the gizzard and enters the duodenum, hormones are released from the duodenum which signals the pancreas to release digestive hormones and bicarbonate.
The duodenum receives digestive enzymes and bicarbonate from the pancreas to dilute the hydrochloric acid from the proventriculus. The enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin digest proteins, amylase breaks down carbohydrates, and lipase breaks down fat. Insulin and glucagon, hormones that maintain blood glucose, are also produced in the pancreas. All these combine with bile from the gallbladder in the common bile duct to continue the digestive process.
The saturated and ground-up food mixture known as chyme moves through the jejunum and then through the nearly four feet of ileum, where most of the released nutrients are absorbed. Inside the small intestine, villi, flexible finger-like protrusions, line the inner wall, providing needed surface area for adequate absorption of nutrients like glucose, calcium, and vitamin B12, and remaining products of digestion not absorbed elsewhere.
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