Download The Ruminant Digestive System

The Ruminant
Digestive System &
Nutrition
Ruminant Digestive Systems
 The
digestive system changes
food nutrients into compounds
that are easily absorbed into the
bloodstream.
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.
Ruminant Digestive Systems
 Non-ruminant
animals cannot
obtain the nutritional value from
most plant sources unless the
food has been modified
(ground, mashed, etc.)
Ruminant Digestive Systems

The digestive system of ruminant animals
starts with:


Mouth, Teeth, & Tongue
Followed by:

Pharynx & Esophagus
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
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.
Ruminant Digestive Systems
 At
this point, ruminant animals
have a multi-chambered
“stomach”
– the organ that allows for
bacterial and chemical breakdown
of fiber to gain the proteins and
energy from plant sources.
 Rumen
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
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.
Papillae in Rumen
Papillae in Rumen
Ruminant Digestive Systems
 Next
the feed moves into:
 Reticulum
- honeycomb-like interior
surface, this part helps to remove
foreign matter from the food
material.
Reticulum - full
Reticulum - cleaned
Tripe = Delicious?
Ruminant Digestive Systems
 Omasum
- section that is round and
muscular.
“Grinds” the food material and
prepares the food material for
chemical breakdown.
Omasum - full
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.).
Abomasum – inside view
Ruminant Digestive Systems
 Followed
by:
Intestine  Large Intestine 
Colon Rectum Anus
Small
Digestive Tract – Bovine
Digestive Tract – Bovine
Compare the monogastric
digestive system with the
ruminant system through
models (using candy)