●University of the Philippines Los Baños ● College of Veterinary Medicine ● Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences●

Zootechnics 113 Digested System

Yellows Corn Main carbohydrate
source
Soy Bean Meal Protein source
Meat Meal pure
Meat and Bone Meal High phosphorous due to
(MBM) bones
Rice hull Fiber
Rice bran Protein and fiber;
B-complex vitamins
Fat Helps in absorbing
vitamins A & E; large
that’s why it adds
palatability
Salt Adds palatability;
Sodium and chloride
(micronutrients)
**Increase in price, lengthens the formula, so add
ingerdients
**Samples of villus are form small intestine.
Feed Milling: process of making feeds; involves the use
of grinder and mixer **After passing through SI, no more digestion will take
place. Further water absorption takes place in large
Feed Quality parameters: includes sampling quick test, intestine.
proximate analysis etc.
**Copro fagi is the act of eating feces (common to cecal
**First in, First out fermenters like rabbits) for further digesting the fiber
Types of Raw Materials content of the feed.
**to see if the animal has good GIT, examine the
Macro Micro
intestines.
Yellow corn Vitamins and minerals
Soybean meal Enzymes **Functions of duodenum, jejunum, illeum
Ricebran Amino Acids
Wheat Toxic Binders Functions of Sodium Butyrate
Coco Oil Mold Inhibitor  Absorbed easily in intestinal tract
**Relative humidity and moisture must be controlled as  Preferred source of energy that accounts for 70%
it prevents the growth of fungi. Mold/fungi growth can of the energy consumption of the cell
be prevented through proper drying and use of mold
inhibitors. Mold can be the source of mycotoxicosis *Young animals have shorter villus/immature crypt cells
that’s why, toxin binder is needed to minimize the which accounts for their weak secretion of digestive
concentration of the toxins. enzymes and absorbing nutrients. They must be given
with food/feed with high digestibility. However, such
**As age increases, the levels of carbohydrate and high-quality raw materials are expensive.
protein must increased also.
Digestive Tract Physiology
**Digested=consumed-excreted
Gut Microflora and health
**Digestion of feed is for…
**intestine: largest immunologic organ (anti-disease)
 Maintenance
 Production requirements
 Reproductive requirements

By: castrated_cat
 ●University of the Philippines Los Baños ● College of Veterinary Medicine ● Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences●
**fecco-oral route: transmission of disease by means of
fecal matter pass from one animal to the mouth of the
oter.
**God and bad bacteria in the stomach must be
delicately balanced.
** An animal must have the guts microflora to:
 Germ free with complete gut microflora are less
susceptible to diseases.
 Oral administration of antibiotics and other
antibacterial compounds increases the
susceptibility to disease
**Age and diet influence the gut microflora of an animal
like those animals who consumes milk (suckling
mammals).
**the pH of stomach is around 1.5-2.5 which was
produced by the parietal cells.
**Chief cells secrete pepsinogen which when mixed with
hydrochloric acid will be activated to pepsin, the chief
digestive enzyme of the stomach capable of breaking
down proteins into polypeptides.
Piglets digestive Problem
 Not good in digesting food
 Amount of HCl (secreted by the parietal cells)are
not sufficient. It will affect protein and lactose
digestion.
 Chief cells already produce pepsin, but Low
amounts of HCl will make it unusable. Pepsin is
activated by HCl to become pepsinogen.
 Major cause of scouring (diarrhea) and
enterotoxemia ()
 Window of enteric (intestine) vulnerability
(weaning period):
 Diet of rich in fatty acids helps in
lowering down the pH
 Organic acids/acidifiers
 Encourage the pig to eat (post-weaning
diarrhea/lag)
Simple Non-Ruminants
**In large intestine, reabsorption of water and formation
of fecal matter.
**Liver: green in color; where gal bladder is located and
bile is secreted (in horses, bile is directly secreted by the
liver as they do not have gal bladder).
**pig cecum: this is the site of fermentation in pigs
Poultry Digestive System
**Foregut: (crop and proventriculus)
 There is lactobacillus in crop and bacterias and
salivary amylase.
 Gizzard is compartmentalized with stones (grit)
in each compartments to aid in mechanical
digestion.
 Gizzard is the primary driver of GIT and is
considered the most important as it dictates the
overall health of the gut which must be pt to
exercise through increasing the size of the feed.
 Duodenum: loop in poultry digestive tract
 Pancreas: poultry liver
 Highly digestible feeds must be given to poultry
due to their short length intestines.
Ruminant Digestive System
 Milk is directly deposited to abomasum (largest
part; the true stomach) by a esophageal tract.
Young cows still do not have gut microflora.
When milk is deposited in rumenreticulum,
spoilage may occur.
 Inoculation of bacteria to calf’s stomach through
eating grass with saliva of mature cows or licking
of dam to her calf.
 Young: large abomasum; old: large rumen
 Ruminants used microbial fermentation while
monogastric animals uses enzymatic digestion.
 Prehension: LR-tongue, SR-lips
 Roughage: requires more saliva compared to
grains and concentrates; contains other raw
materials like moisture and fiber
 Eructation: removing of air
 Bloating: failure to remove air
 Ruminal papillae: conical papillae (same as
chickens)
 Ruminal reticulum: honey comb
 Omasum: book like
 Abomasum: true stomach
 Rumination process:
1. Regurgitation: natural way of vomiting;
return of cud from rumen to mouth
2. Rechewing: mastication
3. Re-salivation
4. Re-swallowing
 Rumination based on diet:
a. Roughage: 8 hrs/day
b. Concentrates: 2 t0 2.5 hrs/day
By: castrated_cat
 ●University of the Philippines Los Baños ● College of Veterinary Medicine ● Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences●
 Rumen Microbes: protozoa engulfs bacteria
resulting to decrease in digestion; so, remove the
protozoa in the ruminal environment through
defaunation which is the process of removing
the lamb right after farrowing (being born); anti-
protozoal drug administration is also an option.
 Concentrates: contain amylolytic bacteria
 Microbes are being fed for bacteria
 Ruminants get energy from acetyl-CoA or acetyl
coenzyme A
a. Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs): microbial
protein, vitamins
b. Acetic acid: acetate (through Krebs
Cycle)
c. Propionic acid: propionate (undergoes
glycogenesis)
d. Butyric acid: transport to a ketone to
betahydroxyketone
 Ruminants need protein but converted to
microbial protein. Microbes in the rumen (pH 7.5
to 6.2) eat the protein. It will be later on
transported to omasum to abomasum which is
quite acidic in nature, killing the bacteria. The
killed bacteria will be digested by small intestines
through protein digestion.
 Vitamin K & B are produced through
fermentation, except, vitamins A & E (from
grasses) and vitamin D (sun exposure).
 Administration of anti-biotics in ruminants is not
Oral As it can kill the bacteria in its stomach.
 Protein, a critical essential amino acid, is not
digested in rumentriculum .
 Protect the protein through encapsulation by
exposing it to certain amount of heat, chemical
treatment (tannic acid and formaldehyde).
 Protein Quality in ruminant Nutrition:
 Microbial protein is greater than dietary
protein.
 To meet animal requirement for all
essential amino acid
 Dietary protein of good quality through
ruminant degradation and microbial
protein synthesis.
 Catabolism: building up/breaking down
stored energy
 Anabolism:
 Heat increrment
Microbial protein ----> body protein ----> dietary protein
 Ruminant undegradable protein: bypass the
digestion and fermentation; directly to
abomasum.
 To digest these undegradable proteins, feed the
animal with nitrogen containing feed like urea.
Urea will let the microbes convert the protein
into microbial protein; carbohydrate-rich diet is
needed.
 Be aware to urea toxicity. Always provide readily
fermentable source of carbohydrate. So, feed
the animal with molasses.
 Urea Molasses Mineral Block: licked by the
animal to prevent urea toxicity.
 Vitamin K and B are synthesized in the rumen.
 Supplementation is necessary only to young
animals as they still have no capacity for
fermentation.
 Rumination: process of chewing the cud
 Metal toxicity/hardware disease/bread and
butter disease: results to reticulitis or the
inflammation of the rumen due to the
puncturing of a certain metal ingested by the
animal in the walls of the rumen. It blocks the
digestive tract, thereby, accumulating foreign
materialsin the rumen.
 Bloating: swelling of the left part pf the abdomen
of the animal; puncturing the bloated abdomen
can be an option.
 Omasum: filters ingesta (wall thickness about 2-
4 mm)
 Young rum: has esophageal by-pass to
abomasum
Non-Ruminant Herbivores
Horse:
 Hindgut (means not for nutrient absorption)
fermenters.
 Also known as colon fermenters (have relatively
large intestines)
 Should be fed frequently (ad libitum) in small
amount due to the small stomach (ruminants are
bulk feeders)
 Horses are less efficient in digestion compared to
ruminants
 Horses will thrive better in starvation as when
ruminants are fed with low quality feed,
rumenoticulum won’t work
Rabbits:
 Cecal fermenters
By: castrated_cat
 ●University of the Philippines Los Baños ● College of Veterinary Medicine ● Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences●
 Has low digestibility of fibers
 Must focus on more digestible feed
 Fiber are not efficiently digested
 First feces: highly fibrous called hard dry
pellets
 The first eliminated fecal matter will be
eaten again (coprophagy)
 Second: relatively fibrous called
cecotropes
Role of Water
 Found in all feeds; 10% in air dry basis
 Accepted moisture:
 80% in fresh green forage
 Molasses are made up of 25% water
 10-40% in cereal grains
 Brewer’s spent grain 78.5%
 Fresh grasses have saturated water content; so,
grasses cut on evening, must be given to animal
the next day.
 Hydroscopic: start to absorb moisture in the
environment (e.g. salt)
 Factors promoting mold/fungi growth:
 temperature
 relative humidity
 moisture content
 High temperature, lower relative humidity:
moisture will tend to go up thereby reducing the
nutritive value as nutrients will exit together
with minerals
 Lower temperature, high relative humidity:
moisture will enter the bag resulting to moisture
build up; fungal growth
 Non-enzymatic Browning:
 Happens when carbohydrates and
sugars in food are heated
 In mash feeds: vitamins and traces of
minerals, amino acids, are in constant
contact with each other increasing
surface contact
 When exposed to high temperature, and
humidity, mold growth within 24 hrs. is
expected
 Result of uncontrollable moisture in the
environment
 The higher the surface area, the more enzymatic
digestion will occur (high digestibility)
 Vitamins and minerals are unstable
 Adding more vitamins and minerals higher than
the declared values will compensate the loss.
However, it is expensive.
 High margin, high feed cost.
 Maillard reaction:
 the chemical reaction which occurs
between amino acids and reducing
sugars in the presence of heat that
results to the browning of food while
forming new aromas and flavors.
 Affects protein and amino acids as it will
react to the carboxy group of other
components
 It is not absorbable by animals
 Disruption of nutritive value
 Beside from mash feed, pelleted ones
are also prone
 The ingestion of such feed, will result to
infection (e.g. respiratory infection like
aspergillosis in poultry)
 Sources of Water:
1. Drinking water
2. Moisture in feed
3. Metabolic/oxidation of water
 Catabolizing stored nutrients
(humps in camels)
 water can be a great reservoir of infection
 In farms, quarterly, water collection and
laboratory testing are done
 Lower water intake will account for lower feed
intake resulting to lower performance
 Factors possibly affecting Water quality:
 Chemical quality: hardwater (burst
pipeline, uneven water distribution)
 pH
 presence of metals (iron and
manganese)
 Microbiological
 Pollution: biofilm build-up (slimy)
 Accumulation of water additives
(supplements administered via water
supply)
 Collect water from the source and outlet
 Ruminants have high water requirements as
ruminant bacteria float in saliva (99%) and mucin
or lubricant (1%).
 Animals drink the same amount of water during
hot and cold seasons
 Water in feeds:
By: castrated_cat
●University of the Philippines Los Baños ● College of Veterinary Medicine ● Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences●
 diluent effect of moisture which is the
basis for grading grains
 on storing feeds, moisture content of the
feed must be considered to avoid
mycotoxin production

By: castrated_cat