The Ruminant Digestive System

The Ruminant Digestive System Objectives  Define the functions of ruminant animals.  Analyze ruminant digestive system.  Analyze the first two components of the digestive system of ruminant animals. Ruminant Digestive Systems  Functions of the digestive system of animals include:  ingestion (eating)  chewing (mastication)  swallowing (deglutition)  absorption of nutrients  elimination of solid wastes (defecation) 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 (polygastric) that allows the animal to gain the majority of their nutritional needs from forages and other roughages.  cattle, sheep/goats, deer and elk  Forage refers to grasses, roughages refers to other high-fiber food sources. Ruminant Digestive Systems  The digestive tract extends from the lips to the anus. It includes the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, and the small and large intestines.  Accessory glands include the salivary glands, the liver, and the pancreas. Pancreas Pharynx Rectum Liver Esophagus Ruminant Digestive Systems Kidney Cecum Teeth Anus Picture of digestive system of cow Tongue Colon Reticulum Small Intestine Rumen Omasum Abomasum Salivary Gland Ruminant Digestive Systems  The digestive system of ruminant animals includes the:  Mouth - grasps the food  Teeth - grind the food  Ruminants have only one set of teeth in the front of the mouth (incisors), and two sets in the back (molars).  Tongue - covered with finger-like projections (papillae) that contain taste buds.  Salivary glands - secrete saliva, that moistens food and is mixed with the food material to aid in swallowing. Ruminant Digestive Systems  Pharynx - funnels food into the esophagus, preventing food material from entering the lungs.  Esophagus - food tube that leads from the mouth to the stomach. Ruminant Stomach Compartment Capacity  Reticulum  Rumen  Omasum  Abomasum 5% of capacity 80% of capacity 7% of capacity 8% of capacity Ruminant Digestive Systems  At this point, ruminant animals have a multi- chambered “stomach”  Reticulum - honeycomb-like interior surface, this part helps to remove foreign matter from the food material.  Esophagus empties here  Prone to hardware disease  Cattle swallow small pieces of metal  Can irritate or pierce the lining  Helped by putting a small magnet into the reticulum  Holding area for food; also site of regurgitation Ruminant Digestive Systems  Ruminant animals grasp mouthfuls of food and swallow it before it is chewed.  They wrap their tongue around a mouthful of grass, clamp down their teeth, and pull to break the grass at its weakest point, and swallow.  Ruminants will “chew their cud” (regurgitate) their food material and then grind it with their molars at a time when the animal is resting.  This is done until the food particles are small enough to pass through the reticulum into the rumen. Ruminant Digestive Systems  Rumen - the organ that allows for bacterial and chemical breakdown of fiber.  The rumen has a very thick, muscular wall  It fills most of the left-side of the abdomen  Looks like carpet due to papillae lining it  Fermentation vat  Primary digestion site for ruminants  Microbial digestion takes place here  Breakdown cellulose, simple sugars, and Nitrogen containing compounds like protein  Physical mixing and breakdown  Not active in the early stages of life Papillae in Rumen Summary  Define the functions of ruminant animals.  Analyze ruminant digestive system.  Analyze the first two components of the digestive system of ruminant animals.