Effect of changes of diet upon digestion in the rumen of the sheep : Thesis submitted for M. Agr. Sc. [Master of Agricultural Science] and Honours, University of New Zealand

Abstract

The alimentary canal of the ruminant is specialised in ways which serve to digest the plant materials on which these herbivores live. The most remarkable development is the rumen and reticulum, a divertculum of the stomach, which is, in effect, a fermentation chamber where cellulose and other insoluble articles of the diet can be subjected to the action of free organisms. To obtain an insight into the digestive processes it is necessary to consider the chemical nature of food; the physical environment to which it is subjected, and the chemical processes responsible for, and the products of, its digestion. With a knowledge of these it is possible to evaluate the theories which have been formulated to explain how the food becomes available to the animal, and to appreciate the gaps which exist in our knowledge of digestion in the rumen.