Practical – 07

Identifying the Digestive System of Farm Animal

Biosystems Technology
Faculty of Technology
South Eastern University of Sri Lanka
 Objectives

 To identify the Ruminant and Non-ruminant digestive system

Ruminant Digestive system
Complex stomach of ruminant consist mainly four part
• Rumen
• Reticulum
• Omasum
• Abomasum
Rumen

 The rumen is the largest of four compartments and is divided into several
sacs

 Because of its size, the rumen acts as a storage

 Tiny projections called papillae increase the surface area and the
absorption capacity of the rumen

 Conditions within the rumen favor the growth of microbes

 Omasum

Abomasum

Rumen

KP Creation
 Esophagus

Rumen
Reticulum

Abomasum

KP Creation
Reticulum

 The reticulum is a pouch-like structure in the forward area of the body

cavity

 The tissues are arranged in a network resembling a honeycomb. A

small fold of tissue lies between the reticulum and the rumen, but the
two are not actually separate compartments

 Collectively they are called the rumino-reticulum

 Heavy or dense feed and metal objects eaten by the cow drop into this
compartment
Omasum

 This globe-shaped structure (also called the "manyplies") contains

leaves of tissue (like pages in a book)

 The omasum absorbs water and other substances from digestive

contents

 Feed material (ingesta) between the leaves will be drier than that
found in the other compartments
 Omasum

Abomasum

Rumen

KP Creation
Abomasum

 This is the only compartment (also called the true stomach) with a
glandular lining

 Hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes, needed for the breakdown of

feeds, are secreted into the abomasum

 The abomasum is comparable to the stomach of the non-ruminant

The small intestine

 The small intestine measures about 20 times the length of the animal

 It is composed of three sections: the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum

 The small intestine receives the secretions of the pancreas and the gallbladder,
which aid digestion

 Most of the digestive process is completed here, and many nutrients are
absorbed through the villi (small finger-like projections) into the blood and
lymphatic systems
Large intestine

 This is the last segment of the tract through which undigested

feedstuffs pass

 Some bacterial digestion of undigested feed occurs, but absorption of

water is the primary digestive activity occurring in the large intestine
Non-Ruminant Digestive system
Digestive system of poultry consists following parts

1. Mouth/Beak
2. Esophagus
3. Crop
4. Proventriculus
5. Gizzard
6. Pancreas
7. Small intestine
8. Ceca
9. Large intestine
10. Cloaca
Mouth/Beak

 Chicken obtains feed by using its beak

 Chickens do not have teeth, so they cannot chew their food. However,
the mouth contains glands that secrete saliva, which wets the feed to
make it easier to swallow

 Also, the saliva contains enzymes, such as amylase, that start the
digestion process
Esophagus

 Tube like passage

 It carries food from the mouth to the crop and from the crop to the
proventriculus
Crop

The crop is an out-pocketing of the esophagus and is located just outside

the body cavity in the neck region

Swallowed feed and water are stored in the crop until they are passed to the
rest of the digestive tract

Here no secretion and digestion occur

Proventriculus
 The proventriculus (also known as the true stomach) is the glandular
stomach where digestion primarily begins

 This is the narrow part of the digestive track

 The wall is very thick and composed to 5 layers

 Hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes, such as pepsin, are added to the
feed here and begin to break it down more significantly than the enzymes
secreted by the salivary glands
Gizzard

 The ventriculus, or gizzard, is a part of the digestive tract of birds often

referred to as the mechanical stomach

 The gizzard is made up of two sets of strong muscles that act as the bird's
teeth and has a thick lining that protects those muscles

 Consumed feed and the digestive juices from the salivary glands and
proventriculus pass into the gizzard for grinding, mixing, and mashing
The Small Intestine

 The small intestine is made up of the duodenum and the lower small
intestine

 The remainder of the digestion occurs in the duodenum, and the released
nutrients are absorbed mainly in the lower small intestine

 The lower small intestine is composed of two parts, the jejunum and the
ileum
Ceca

 The ceca (plural form of cecum) are two blind pouches located where the
small and large intestines join

 Some of the water remaining in the digested material is reabsorbed here.

Another important function of the ceca is the fermentation of any remaining
coarse materials
Large Intestine

 Large intestine is actually shorter than the small intestine. The large
intestine is where the last of the water reabsorption occurs
Cloaca

 The digestive wastes mix with wastes from the urinary system exits
from here

 The reproductive tract also exits through this area