The Digestive systems of Farm Animals Tiffany Reid

Answer true or false for each statement The crop is responsible for storing food ingested by birds ______ Cattle and pigs are examples of ruminants.___ Ruminants have a single compartment stomach______ Birds use their teeth to grind food______ The digestion process ends in a similar way for all farm animals.________

Objectives 1. To define digestion 2. Explain the functions of the parts of the digestive system of : monogastric digestive system Avian digestive system Ruminant digestive system Psuedo-ruminant digestive system

Objectives (cont’d) Describe the process of digestion in: A monogastric animal An avian A ruminant A psuedo-ruminant digestive system

What is Digestion? This is the process of making food absorbable by breaking it down into simpler chemical compounds in the alimentary canal. Animals have to break down the food they eat to be able to utilize the nutrients in the food

Name the different classes of digestive systems found in farm animals: Monogastric Avian Ruminant Pseudo-ruminant

Monogastric digestive system A monogastric digestive system has one simple stomach. Example: pig The digestive system of a pig has five (5) main parts: Mouth Oesaphagus Stomach Small intestine Large intestine

Digestion in Pigs

The mouth is where the food enters the digestive tract and where mechanical break down of food begins. The oesaphagus is a tube which carries the food from the mouth to the stomach. The stomach is the section of the digestive tract where chemicals are added to the food. These chemicals help to break down food into smaller particles of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Some particles are absorbed from the stomach into the bloodstream Some particles are absorbed from the stomach into the bloodstream. Other particles which the stomach cannot absorb pass to the small intestine. The first part of the small intestine is called the duodenum. Secretions from the liver and pancreas are added to the food in the small intestine. These secretions contain enzymes that complete the digestion of fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

Most food nutrients are then absorbed in the second and third parts of the small intestine called the jejunum and ileum. Undigested nutrients and secretions then pass to the large intestine. The main function of the large intestine is for the absorption of water. It is also a reservoir for waste materials that make up the faeces.

Avian digestive system This type of system is found in poultry such as chickens, ducks and geese The main parts of the poultry digestive system are: Beak small intestine Oesophgus caeca Crop cloaca Stomach (proventriculus) Gizzard

The beak is used to break up food into smaller pieces so that the birds can swallow it. The crop is a thin walled sac for storing and soaking the food. The proventriculus also known as a glandular stomach is a tube-like area that produces a large amount of digestive juices. The food then goes to the gizzard. The gizzard is a muscular organ which grinds the food up into small pieces.

After grinding the food then goes to the small intestine After grinding the food then goes to the small intestine. The small intestine is the site of most of the digestion and absorption of materials At the end of the small intestine are several intestinal caeca which store bacteria which are essential in the breakdown of cellulose. The birds digestive tract ends in the cloaca where fecal material is collected before it is expelled through the vent or anus.

Digestion in Ruminants A ruminant digestive system has a large stomach that is divided into four compartments. This system is found in cattle, sheep and goats. Parts of ruminant digestive system: Mouth oesophagus Rumen reticulum Omasum abomasum Small intestine large intestine

Digestive System of a Ruminant

Cattle swallows its food without chewing. It enters the rumen. acts as a storage organ. Cellulose-digesting bacteria breakdown the cellulose in the grass. Sends partially digested grass into the reticulum.

Reticulum Forms semi-liquid grass into boluses/cuds Pumps boluses back into the mouth through regurgitation Acts as a strainer to remove foreign material Omasum - receives the masticated cuds from the mouth - Squeezes liquid out of the cuds The liquid is absorbed into the walls of the omasum. The remaining solids are then pumped into the abomasums.

Abomasum Produces gastric juices. Pepsin breaks down proteins into amino acids The food materials then pass to the small intestines where most of the absorption is done. Undigested food materials then pass to the large intestine where water absorption takes place. The remaining undigested material is then egested from the body through the anus

Digestive system of a rabbit (pseudo-ruminant

Rabbits are hind gut digesters this means that most of their digestion takes place in the large intestine and caecum. Their diet contains large amounts of cellulose which is hard to digest. This plant material passes through the stomach until it reaches the caecum. The caecum contains large quantities of bacteria . These help in cellulose digestion.

The rabbit passes out two types of faeces: hard droppings and soft black pellets. The soft black pellets or “night droppings” are re ingested to be fully digested in the stomach. The pellets contain approximately 24 % protein.

Activity In which part of the alimentary canal absorption of nutrients take place? What is digestion? Name the four compartments of the ruminant stomach. What are the major processes which occur in each compartment? Describe the different types of digestive systems that can be found in farm animals.

Name 2 farm animals with this type of digestive system.