Download Horse Science digestive physiology (student notes)

Agriculture Production Mgt. IV
Equine Science
Digestive Physiology of the Horse
Objectives
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Discuss the digestion system of Equines
as compared to other species
Introduce the Digestive Tract of a Equine
Discuss the rate of passage for digestion
Discuss factors that affect the digestive
process
The Digestive Tract
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Horses are non-ruminant herbivores
Digestive Tract
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The Mouth- first part
of digestive system.
Mouth has 2 main
functions________food and
_________with saliva.
Digestive tract cont.
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Teeth should be
examined by
professional
periodically to check
for sharp edges that
must be _______or
filed down
Digestive tract cont.
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The esophagus- _______inches long in an
adult horse.
____________will not allow vomiting.
Stomach may actually ________before
animal will vomit.
The Stomach- relatively small. Therefore
horses should be fed
_________________per day.
Digestive tract cont.
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The Small Intestine- contains 30% of the
capacity of the entire tract. Food in the
small intestine is__________. Nutrients
are absorbed here.
Protein, Carbohydrates, fat, minerals and
vitamins are all ________in the
__________intestine
Digestive tract cont.
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The large intestine- ____feet long, divided
into cecum, large and small colon and
rectum
Horses are able to utilize large amounts of
________due to their relatively large
cecum
Cecum is a section of the colon where
___________________________roughage
______is absorbed in the large intestine
Rate of passage
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95% of all food eaten will be excreted in
the form of feces within _______hours of
ingestion
Factors Affecting Digestion
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Processing of feedspellets require less
digestion than whole
grains.
Feed processing
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Grinding feed speeds
digestion
Feed Processing
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Crimping oats will
increase rate of
digestion.
Factors affecting Digestion cont.
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Level of intake- the ________eaten, the
less digested
Frequency of feeding- frequent feeding
can __________level of digestion.
Factors cont.
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Work- light work
increases digestion,
heavy work inhibits it.
Name:________________________
Date:_________________________
Esophagus
Cecum
Rectum
Mouth
Stomach
Large Colon
Small Colon
Name:________________________
Date:_________________________