THE DISTRIBUTION OF DIGESTA PARTICLES AND MEAN PARTICLE SIZE OF DIGESTA OBTAINED FROM THE DIVERSE PARTS OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT OF RUMINANTS

Three cattle, a sheep and a goat were slaughtered to determine the distribution of digesta particles and mean size of digesta particles. Aliquot samples of digesta in the diverse sites of the digestive tracts were fractionated by a wet sieving technique. Fractionated particles were analyzed by the magnetic grid analyzer system constructed by authors. Results showed that the proportion of particles in digesta was similar among the omasum, abomasums cecum, colon and rectum, but that for the reticulo-ruminal digesta was different from the others. The pattern of the mass base frequency distribution of particles was also similar in the post-ruminal digesta. Average Heywood's diameter (the diameter equivalent to that of a circle with equal area to a projected area of a given particle) was about 1.2 mm in the reticulo-ruminal digesta and decreased to 0.65 mm for cattle or to about 0.35 mm for sheep and goat in the omasal digesta. Average Heywood's diameter was about the same in the post-ruminal digesta. It is concluded that mean particle size and particle distribution in digesta of the rectum or feces reflect those in digesta of the omasum.