Today’s Objectives

• Define a digestive system and what it does• Identify parts of the digestive system and their

functions• Difference between a Ruminant vs. Non-Ruminant

vs. Hind-gut Fermenter• Identify the difference in digestive systems

between Ruminant vs. Non-Ruminant vs. Hind-gut Fermenter

• Identify parts of the digestive system in a Ruminant vs. Non-Ruminant

Digestive System-What is it?

• Consists of parts of the body involved in chewing and digesting food

• Moves the digested feed through the animal’s body and absorbs the products of digestion

Parts of the digestive System

• Mouth-where the food enters the animals body

• Esophagus-tube like passage from the mouth to the stomach

• Stomach-receives the feed and adds chemicals that help in the digestive process

Parts of the digestive system

• Small Intestine- small tube that splits food molecules and absorbs nutrients

• Large Intestine-larger in diameter and ends with the rectum

• Rectum-end of GI tract, place where feces exits body

Digestive System

Ruminant vs. Non-Ruminant vs. Hind-gut Fermenter

Digestion in Ruminants

•

What is a Ruminant?

• Animals with more then one stomach

• Chew their cud

• Cows have 4 Compartment stomachs– Reticulum– Rumen– Omasum– Abomasum

Cattle Digestive System

Reticulum

• Honeycomb lining

• Collects hardware (nails, wires, etc.)

• Stores, sorts, and moves feed back to the esophagus for regurgitation

Rumen

• Papillae lining

• Functions as a storage vat

• Food is soaked, mixed, and fermented

• Some breakdown of feed through microbial action

• Absorption of some nutrients

Omasum

• AKA: Many plies

• Laminae lining (many folds)

• Reduces particle size

• Grinds Roughage

• Absorption of water

Abomasum

• Only “true” stomach

• Feed is mixed with gastric juices

• Decrease pH from 6 to 2.5– Denatures protein– Kills bacteria and Pathogens– Dissolves minerals

Digestion in Non-Ruminants

Swine Digestive System

Non-Ruminants

• Monogastric System• Has only one compartment to the stomach• Process goes through the

– Esophagus– Stomach– Small intestine- duodenum, jejunum, ileum– Large intestine: cecum (appendix in humans),

colon, rectum

Hind-gut Fermenter

• Enlarged Cecum– Acts as a rumen in ruminants– Not as efficient as rumen– Roughage feeds are digested by bacterial action

• Animal eats less, but more often than ruminants

• Animal is able to utilize roughages unlike non-ruminants

•

How digestion works

• Feed passes from mouth to esophagus then to stomach

• Partly digested food leaves stomach enters into small intestine– Splitting of foods molecules and absorption of

nutrients– Stomach empties contents into small intestine

known as the duodenum-jejunum-ileum

How digestion works

• Small intestine to Large intestine– Colon prevents material in large intestine from

moving back to small intestine

• Cecum-(blind gut) does little for most animals except horses-roughage feeds digested by bacterial action

How Digestion Works

• Large Intestine-absorbs water and nutrients that is not absorbed by the small intestine– Material that is not digested and absorbed in

small intestine passes to large intestine– Adds mucus to enable the material to pass

through easily– Empties into the rectum

In Conclusion• Ruminants and Non-Ruminants have

different digestive systems• Why is the digestive system important?• How many stomachs does a Ruminant

have? Non-Ruminant?• What makes a Horse different then other

animals?• Category