Rumination refers to the activity of herbivores that spit food back into the mouth through the rumen before digesting it, and then chew and swallow it. It consists of four processes: regurgitation, chewing, saliva mixing and re-swallowing. Rumination occurs mainly in some herbivores of the mammalian order Cloven-hoofed order. For example, cattle and sheep. Let's take a look at the process of cattle rumination and the treatment of non-rumination!
Cattle rumination law
When the cow eats the grass and lies on the ground, it will see the cow's mouth constantly chewing into a ball and then swallowing again. Each time is about 1-2 minutes, and the cattle need about 6-8 hours a day to ruminate. Rumination can thinn out, soften, and reach the back digestive tract through the rumen, allowing cattle to eat more forage. Ruminants often feed in a hurry, especially roughage, most of which are swallowed into the rumen without adequate chewing. After soaking and softening the rumen for a period of time, the food returns to the mouth in retro-nausea, after chewing again, mixing with saliva again and swallowing into the rumen.
In a healthy herd, 50% of the cattle are ruminating. But when cattle get sick, overtired and subjected to external stimuli, it can lead to a weakening or complete cessation of rumination behavior. Once rumination is stopped, the food remains in the rumen to ferment, and the gas produced cannot be excreted, causing the rumen to swell.
The cause of cattle rumination is the special environment of the cow's stomach. The bovine stomach is divided into four parts: rumen, reticulum, flap stomach, and wrinkle stomach, of which only the wrinkle stomach is the part that secretes gastric juice. The volume of bovine rumen is 100-300 liters, accounting for about 80% of the four parts of the stomach. A large number of microorganisms are present in the rumen, including protozoa (mainly ciliates) and bacteria. The rumen itself does not secrete enzymes, all enzymes are produced by microorganisms. The fibers in the hay are absorbed by enzymes produced by these microorganisms, and most of the lower fatty acids formed by fermentation and decomposition are absorbed by the rumen wall. The reticulome is located in front of the rumen, next to the septum and the liver. The inner wall of the mesh stomach is honeycomb-shaped, and microbial digestion is also carried out in the mesh stomach.
Bovine non-rumination treatment
When cattle cause rumination abnormalities due to other diseases, the symptoms should be resolved first, and then the rumination abnormalities should be resolved. For the rumination caused by improper feeding management or abnormal digestive function of cattle, the principles of one elimination, two conditioning and three stomach health should be adhered to in the treatment process.
1. Elimination: When cattle rumination is not normal, a large amount of food will definitely stay in the rumen. If not excreted in time, it will lead to rumen flatulence and acidosis, which will eventually endanger the life and health of cattle.
2. Conditioning: Conditioning sick cattle is also an important step. First stop eating moldy and inferior feed and appropriately reduce the amount of concentrated feed fed. You can feed some good quality green hay that is easy to digest. Secondly, improve the feeding environment, as far as possible to keep the sick cattle in a dry, warm, hygienic and comfortable environment; finally, if the weather permits, the diseased cattle can be taken outside to increase the light and exercise time, so as to achieve the purpose of enhancing digestion.
3. Stomach: For sick cattle, the stomach must be strengthened regularly to consolidate the therapeutic effect. For stomach fitness, you can use good cow you or promote the overlord for irrigation. Special attention is required when cattle do not ruminate for more than 48 hours. At this time, the residual food in the rumen may be acidified, which in turn leads to the occurrence of bovine acidosis.