Kinetic data analysis was used to derive a six-compartment computer model which describes the in vivo [3H]25-hydroxyvitamin D3 ([3H]25-OHD3) metabolism in control and strontium rachitic chicks. Plasma concentrations of 25-OHD3 (13 pmol/ml) and 25, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (0.9 pmol/ml) were 18 and 125% greater than controls, respectively, whereas the corresponding level for 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (0.3 pmol/ml) was only 30% of control. Plasma disappearance of 25-HOD3 was fitted using a two-compartment model in which the metabolite extrapolated half-life was nearly twice as large for strontium rachitic chicks (71 compared to 41 h). Intestinal sequestration of 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 was assumed to be irreversible and was fitted by a single exponential term in which metabolite uptake rate and tissue concentration in strontium rickets was suppressed to 20 and 10% of control, respectively. In contrast, uptake of 25-OHD3 by the intestine was observed to occur by a reversible process in which metabolite concentration was 45% greater in the strontium rachitic compared to control group. The developed compartment model accepts time-dependent control or perturbed metabolite data for the plasma and (or) intestinal pools and provides quantitative values for metabolite pool size, flux rate, and turnover time.