Four rams provided with a permanently isolated of 250 ml capacity caecum and another 4 with an isolated 1 m long loop colon were used in this study. The isolated caecum was filled and colon perfused with solutions of differing urea concentrations (0.01; 0.015; 0.02%) or VFA and ammonia concentrations (43 and 91 mM or 50 and 100 mM). The caecum pouch was filled with a solution of 0.1, 0.15 or 0.3% enzymatic casein hydrolysate. Urea was not absorbed from the caecum or colon, regardless of its concentration in the solution. The fractional absorption rate of VFA in the caecum was higher (58%) than in the colon (38%). The rate of absorption of butyric acid was highest, and acetic acid lowest, irrespective of the VFA concentration in the solution. Increasing the VFA concentration administered in solution had a significant effect only on the amount of acetic acid absorbed from the caecum and colon (P≤0.01 and P≤0.05, respectively). Only the net disappearance of aspartic and glutamic acids, threonine and serine from the enzymatic casein hydrolysate in the caecum was significant, but increasing the concentration of amino acids in the solutions did not have a significant effect on their rate of absorption.