The Ruminant Digestive System & Nutrition

1. The Ruminant Digestive System & Nutrition

2. Ruminant Digestive Systems • The digestive system changes food nutrients into compounds that are easily absorbed into the bloodstream.

3. Ruminant Digestive Systems • Ruminants are those animals that contain a multi-chambered digestive system • Cattle gain the majority of their nutritional needs from forages and other roughages. • Forage refers to grasses, roughages refers to other high-fiber food sources.

4. Ruminant Digestive Systems • Non-ruminant animals cannot obtain the nutritional value from most plant sources unless the food has been modified (ground, mashed, etc.)

6. Ruminant Digestive Systems • The digestive system of ruminant animals starts with: • Mouth, Teeth, & Tongue • Followed by: • Pharynx & Esophagus

7. The Ruminant Stomach • Rumination: • Ruminants are known for “cud chewing” • Rumination involves: • Bolus of previously eaten feed carried back into the mouth by reverse peristalsis • Fluid in bolus is squeezed out with the tongue and re-swallowed • Bolus is re-chewed and re-swallowed

8. Ruminant Digestive Systems • While the animal is “chewing its cud” foreign particles that are heavy are allowed to “sink” in the reticulum, preventing many foreign particles from entering the rest of the digestive system. • Once foreign material enters the reticulum, it stays there for the life of the animal.

9. Ruminant Digestive Systems • At this point, ruminant animals have a multi-chambered “stomach” • Rumen – the organ that allows for bacterial and chemical breakdown of fiber to gain the proteins and energy from plant sources.

10. Ruminant Digestive Systems • The rumen has a very thick, muscular wall. • It fills most of the left-side of the abdomen • In cattle the rumen can have a capacity of up to 55-65 gallons! • Normal 25-30 gallons

11. Ruminant Digestive Systems • The walls of the rumen contain papillae (that can be up to 1 cm. in length), where the bacteria that are used to breakdown fiber live.

12. Papillae in Rumen

13. Papillae in Rumen

14. Ruminant Digestive Systems • Next the feed moves into: • Reticulum - honeycomb-like interior surface, this part helps to remove foreign matter from the food material.

15. Reticulum - full

16. Reticulum - cleaned

17. Tripe = Delicious?

18. Ruminant Digestive Systems • Omasum - section that is round and muscular. • “Grinds” the food material and prepares the food material for chemical breakdown.

19. Omasum - full

21. Ruminant Digestive Systems • Abomasum - The true, glandular stomach very similar to the stomach of non-ruminants. • this is where the majority of chemical breakdown of food material occurs. • mixes in digestive enzymes (pepsin, rennin, bile, etc.).

22. Abomasum – inside view

23. Ruminant Digestive Systems • Followed by: • Small Intestine Large Intestine ColonRectumAnus

24. Digestive Tract – Bovine Pancreas Cecum Liver Gall bladder

25. Small intestine Rumen Rectum Pancreas Omasum Esophagus Large intestine Reticulum Abomasum Cecum Liver Gall bladder Digestive Tract – Bovine

26. Compare the monogastric digestive system with the ruminant system through models (using candy)