Utilization of 15N-labelled urea in laying hens. 6

3 colostomized laying hybrids received a normal ration containing 1% 15N-labelled urea with 96.06% atom-% 15N excess (15N') over six days. Subsequently the same ration with unlabelled urea was given over 2 days, after which the animals were butchered. In the kidneys the 15N' amounted to 1.1 atom-% and 1.8 atom-% in the liver. The TCA soluble N fraction and the ammonia were more highly labelled than the total N. Lysine, histidine and arginine were lowly labelled in the kidneys. This also applies to the liver with the exception of histidine. In the branch-chained and aromatic amino acids of the liver the 15N' was between 0.2 and 0.3 atom-%. The highest labelling of non-essential amino acids was found in glutamic acid with 0.9 atom-% 15N' and aspartic acid with 1.1 atom-% 15 N'. The evaluation of the amino acid in the liver showed that the 6 non-essential amino acids account for two thirds of the total amino acid 15N' whereas the 9 essential ones account for one third of the amino acid 15N' only. (author)