Recent investigations into the development
of the neonatal digestive system suggest
that the digestive tract may not have sufficient
enzymatic and absorptive capacity to deal
with all types of diet [38, 39, 401. As the bird
matures, its pancreatic enzyme production
and villus surface area increase to cope with
the digestive requirements of the bird [40,41].
Almost as important, the signalling to the
pancreas becomes more mature and accurate
so that the release of enzymes from acinar
cells becomes more closely matched to the
enzymatic requirements in the intestinal
lumen, with the result that each unit of enzyme
activity is used more effectively [42]. Very little