1 Flashcards
Ruminants include
cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, elk, giraffes and camels.
These animals all
have a digestive system that is uniquely different from our own. Instead of one compartment to the
stomach they have four.
Ruminant
is the largest section and the main digestive center.
Rumen
he partially chewed grass goes into the large rumen where it is stored and broken down into
balls of
Cud
When the animal has eaten its fill, it will rest and
“chew its cud”
_____is then
swallowed once again where it will pass into the next three compartments
Cud
The cud is then
swallowed once again where it will pass into the next three compartments?
he reticulum, the omasum
and the true stomach, the abomasum.
At birth the first three
compartments of a calf’s stomach—
rumen, reticulum, and omasum
are inactive and undeveloped
rumen, reticulum, and omasum
Ruminant livestock include
cattle, sheep, and goats
are hoofed mammals that have a
unique digestive system that allows them to better use energy from fibrous plant material than other
herbivores.
Ruminant
The ruminant digestive system uniquely qualifies ruminants to efficiently use
high roughage
feedstuffs, including forages
Anatomy of the ruminant digestive system includes the
mouth, tongue,
salivary glands (producing saliva for buffering rumen pH), esophagus, four-compartment stomach,
pancreas, gall bladder, small intestine, and large intestine.
A ruminant uses its ____________ to harvest forages during grazing or to consume harvested
feedstuffs
Mouth and tongue
Saliva aids in
chewing and swallowing, contains enzymes for breakdown of fat (salivary lipase)
and starch (salivary amylase), and is involved in nitrogen recycling to the rumen.
__________most important
function is to buffer pH levels in the reticulum and rumen.
Saliva
A mature cow produces up to
50 quarts of
saliva per day
That bolus then moves from the mouth to the reticulum through a
tube-like passage called the
Esophagus
True or false?
esophagus functions bidirectionally in ruminants, allowing them to regurgitate their cud for
further chewing, if necessary
True
________ where forage and other feedstuffs are forced back to the mouth for further chewing and mixing with saliva. This cud is then
swallowed again and passed into the reticulum.
process of rumination or “chewing the cud”
_______then
swallowed again and passed into the reticulum
Cud
is home to a population of microorganisms (microbes or “rumen bugs”) that
include bacteria, protozoa, and fungi.
Reticulorumen
The reticulum is called the
Honey comb
appearance of its lining
(Figure 1.3). It sits underneath and toward the front of the rumen, lying against the diaphragm. Ingesta
flow freely between the reticulum and rumen.
Honeycomb
is to collect smaller digesta particles and move them into the
omasum, while the larger particles remain in the rumen for further digestion.
reticulum
also traps
and collects heavy/dense objects the animal consumes.
Reticulum
The
reticulum is sometimes referred to as the
“hardware
stomach.”
The rumen is sometimes called the
Paunch
Rumen It is
lined with papillae for nutrient absorption and divided by
muscular pillars into the
dorsal, ventral, caudo-dorsal, and
caudoventral sacs
acts as a fermentation vat by hosting
microbial fermentation. About 50 to 65 percent of starch
and soluble sugar consumed is digested in the rumen.
Rumen
The omasum is spherical and connected to the
reticulum by a short tunnel. It is called the
“many plies” or
the “butcher’s bible” in reference to the many folds or
leaves that resemble pages of a book.
is the “true stomach” of a ruminant.
It is the compartment that is most similar to a stomach in a
nonruminant.
Abomasum
The abomasum produces
hydrochloric acid and
digestive enzymes, such as pepsin (breaks down protein),
and receives digestive enzymes secreted from the pancreas,
such as pancreatic lipase (breaks down fats). These
secretions help prepare proteins for absorption in the intestine
The pH in the abomasum generally ranges from
3.5 to 4.0
as further sites of nutrient absorption.
The small and large intestines follow the abomasum
