Chapter 4

Animal Nutrition and Digestive System of Farm Animals

Lesson 1
Digestive System
Digestive System
• consists of a musculomembranous tube extending from the mouth to
the anus
• Functions: ingestion, grinding (mastication/chewing),
deglutition/swallowing, digestion (gastric and intestinal) and
absorption of food (nutrients), and elimination/excretion of solid
waste
Anatomy and Physiology of the Digestive System
1. Mouth
• It is the beginning of the digestive system
• Includes the lips, tongue, teeth and salivary glands
• It is responsible for the breakdown of food materials and serves as a
prehensile (grasping) mechanism and as a defensive and offensive
weapon

Prehensive Organ
• Organ that the animal uses to grasp food
Horse – upper lip, lower and upper incisors
Cattle – tongue
Pig – teeth, lips
Chicken – beak
Sheep – teeth and upper cleft lip
DENTAL PAD
OF
RUMINANTS
2. Pharynx
• It is a funnel-shaped musculomembranous organ which is a common
passage for food and air

3. Esophagus
• It is a musculomembranous tube extending from the pharynx to the
stomach

4. Stomach
• It is a hollow, pear-shaped, muscular digestive organ
• The organ of storage of ingested feed
• There are two types of stomach: simple and compound
a) Simple Stomach
• It is located just behind the left side of the diaphragm.
• It is divided into three (3)
• Monogastric
b) Compound Stomach
b.1. Reticulum
b.2. Rumen
b.3. Omasum
b.4. Abomasum

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Reticulum (Honeycomb)
• Is the most anterior and smallest section of the compound stomach
• It receives heavy matter in food (nails, wires and grits of stone –
hardware stomach) and acts as a liquid reservoir to soften these
materials
• Located behind the diaphragm adjacent to the heart (the heart is in
front of the diaphragm)
Rumen (paunch)
• Is the largest part of the compound stomach
• It serves as a fermentation vat, organ of maceration, site of bacterial
digestion and organ of absorption
• Located generally on left side
Omasum (many plies)
• Is a spherical organ filled with muscular laminae
• Laminae is studded with short, blunt papillae that grind roughage
before it enters the abomasum
• Presents many folds of membranes of varying height and width (book)
• Grinds food more finely than the rumen and reticulum and absorbs
excess moisture
Abomasum (true stomach)
• similar structure and functions as simple stomach
• It secretes gastric enzyme and HCl
5. Small Intestine
• A tube connecting the stomach to the cecum and large intestine
• It is suspended from the dorsal part of the abdominal cavity by a
fold of peritoneum called the great mesentery
• There are 3 segments of the SI
• Duodenum, jejunum, and ileum

a) Duodenum
• The first part of the small intestines closely attached to the
stomach
• Formed in an s-shaped curve which contains the pancreas
(DUODENAL LOOP)
• This is where the bile and pancreatic ducts pour their secretions
• Active site of digestion
b) Jejunum
• It is about 90% of the total length of the small intestines and has
no distinct demarcation from either the duodenum and ileum
• Active site of nutrient absorption
c) Ileum
• It is the last part of the SI

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6. Large Intestine
• Extends from the termination of ileum to the anus
a) Cecum
• Cul-de-sac situated between the ileum and the great colon
• It is somewhat comma-shaped and lies to the right of the median
plane
b) Colon
• Differs from the SI in that it is larger, sacculated and has
longitudinal bands and more fixed position
7. Rectum
• It is the terminal part of the intestine. It is the organ of storage.

8. Anus
• It is the terminal part of the alimentary system (digestive tract)
Accessory Glands of Digestion
1. Pancreas – It is a gland found in the
first loop of the duodenum. It
produces sodium bicarbonate and
digestive enzymes (proteases-50%
digestion), carbohydrases-50%,
lipases-90%)
2. Liver – it is the largest gland in the
body. Secretion of bile, detoxification
of poisons.
3. Gall bladder. It is a storage place of
bile.
4. Salivary gland
https://www.thepigsite.com/articles/digestive-system-of-the-pig-anatomy-and-function
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https://site.extension.uga.edu/forageteam/2018/09/understanding-a-horses-digestive-system/
Avian Digestive System
1. Beak
• it is adopted for rapid picking up of small particles of feeds
2. Esophagus
• Most birds (except insect-eating species) have an enlarged area in
the esophagus referred to as the crop (base of the neck)
• to serve as ingesta holding and moistening reservoir
• for fermentation
• to allow breakdown reaction of salivary amylase
3. Proventriculus
• Glandular stomach or true stomach
• It is the site of gastric juice production (HCl and pepsin – protein
digestion)
• Ingesta passes very quickly (14 seconds)
4. Gizzard (ventriculus)
• It is a thick muscular walled area acting to physically reduce
particle size of ingesta
• Gizzard lining normally contains grit (small stone or hard particles)
which aid in grinding ingested seeds and grains
5. Small Intestine
• Most of enzymes found in mammalian species are present (except
lactase)
6. Ceca and Large Intestine
• The avian digestive system contains 2 blind pouches (ceca) as
compare to mammals (cecum)
• Site for water resorption
• Fiber digestion and water soluble vitamins synthesis occurs because
of the bacterial fermentation
7. Cloaca/vent/anus
• Eliminates waste products
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Lesson 2
Animal Nutrition
What is Nutrition?
• Is a science that deals with the kind and amount of feeds, their
composition of nutrients, the animal performance desired, and
digestion and metabolism of nutrients.
• It involves several fields of discipline like biochemistry, chemistry,
physiology, endocrinology, microbiology and genetics.
• Sum of all process from prehension of food/feeds to utilization of
nutrients and excretion of waste
Definition of Terms:
a) Food/Feed - term given to any materials that embraces both plants
and animals including their by-products that provide nutrients to the
animals
b) Digestion - a process whereby food is broken down into smaller and
suitable particles for absorption. it includes mechanical forces,
chemical action and enzyme activity
c) Absorption - a process whereby the nutrients from the digested food
in the digestive tract is transferred to the circulatory system
d) Metabolism - life sustaining activity that involves processes that
converts food into energy and products needed to sustain life.
Combination of anabolic and catabolic reactions taking place in the
body with the release of energy.
e) Enzyme - A complex protein produced in the living cells that cause
changes in other substances within the body without being changed
itself
f) Ration - the feed given to the animals with balance nutrients needed
by the animal within 24 hours
g) Diet - it is the kind of food/feed given to the animals regardless of
whether with balance or unbalance nutrients
h) Feedstuff - is a component of a ration or a diet that serves one or
more functions
i) Meal - is processed nutritive materials that are intended for feeding
Nutrient
• Feed constituent that aids in the support of life
• Can be a single chemical or a large, complex chemical compound of
many different units
• Ar, Ca, C, Cl, Cr, Co, F, H, I, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, N, O, P, K, Se, Si, S, Ti,
Va, Zn
• B and Al (adventitious elements)
Functions of the nutrients can be summarized as follows:
• structural material for building and maintaining the body structure
• source of energy for heat production, work and or fat deposition
• regulating body processes or in the formation of body produced
regulators
Classes or basic nutrient groups
1. Water
• It is made up of 2 atoms of H and 1 atom of O --(H2O)
• It is the cheapest and most abundant nutrient
• Makes up 65-85% of the animal’s body weight at birth and 45-60% at
maturity
• As the age and body fat increase, the percentage of body water
decreases (inversely proportional)
• Body water accounts for 90-95% of the blood
• essential in the transport of metabolic products and wastes
• Important in temperature regulation
• Effect of lack of water – less feed intake, reduce rate of gain, milk
or egg production
2. Carbohydrates
• Made up of Carbon (40%), Hydrogen (7%) and Oxygen (53%)
• In plants, formed by photosynthesis
• Commonly called sugar
• Functions:
• Metabolized as a source of energy
• Converted into glycogen (“animal starch”)
• Converted into fat and stored in the body for future use as a
source of energy
Classes of CHO
1. Monosaccharides
• one sugar unit, not usually found as such in feedstuffs but serves as
a building unit for more complex CHO
• cannot be hydrolyzed to simpler components
• general formula, CnH2nOn, where n varies from 3 to 8

a) Pentoses – arabinose, xylose, ribose

b) Hexoses – glucose, fructose, galactose
Classes of CHO
1. Monosaccharides
Classified according to:

Functional groups present

Aldoses – aldehyde group e.g. glucose, galactose
Ketose – keto group e.g. fructose

Number of C atoms
Triose – 3C
Tetrose – 4C
Pentose – 5C
2. Disaccharides
• consist of two monosaccharide units joined by a glycosidic bond

a) Sucrose (table sugar) – glucose + fructose

b) Maltose – glucose + glucose
c) Lactose (milk sugar) – glucose + galactose
3. Oligosaccharides
• consist of 3–10 monosaccharide units
• Raffinose = galactose + glucose + fructose
• Stachyose = galactose + galactose + glucose + fructose
4. Polysaccharides
• It is composed of long chains of hexose or pentose units
a) Homopolysaccharides - many sugar unit of one kind
• Starch – long chains of glucose units joined by alpha linkage;
cereal grains and tubers are rich sources of starch
• Cellulose - long chains of glucose units joined by beta linkage;
found in cell walls of plants, especially in mature grasses
b) Heteropolysaccharides - many sugar unit of different kind
• Hemicellulose – it is made up of both 5-C and 6-C sugar groups;
also a part of plant cell walls but is more digestible than
cellulose
Deficiency or abnormal metabolism
• Ketosis
• is a metabolic disease in lactating dairy cows characterized by
weight loss, inappetance, decrease milk production or may be the
consequence of a diet that is very low in carbohydrates
• Diabetes mellitus
• a disease in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to the
hormone insulin is impaired, resulting in abnormal metabolism of
carbohydrates and elevated levels of glucose in the blood and urine
 Saliva
(ptyalin/salivary
amylase)

Maltose
Starch

Starch
Gastric
Maltose amylase

Glucose
- Duodenum,
Jejunum
Maltase
Lipids (Fats and Oils)
• Carbon (77%), Hydrogen (12%), and Oxygen (11%)
• Composed of 1 molecule of glycerol (a CHO) and 3 molecules of fatty
acids
• FA – are long chain organic compounds, usually containing an even
number of C atoms
a) Saturated FA – only single bond between C atoms; tend to be
solid at room temperature and from animal sources
b) Unsaturated – double bond between some of the C atoms; liquid
at room temperature and from plants
• Functions: source of energy (2.25x than CHO and CHONP); carrier of
fat-soluble vitamins; heat, insulation and protection; structural
components of tissues (brain and liver)
Proteins
• Carbon (53%), Hydrogen (7%), Oxygen (23%), Nitrogen (16%) and
Phosphorus (1%)
• large chemical units made up of amino acids (22; EAA-10, NEAA-12)
joined by peptide bond
• Highest concentration in muscle tissues of animals
• It is the most expensive nutrient to furnish in an animal’s diet
• dietary requirement in percentage is highest in the young growing
animals and declines gradually to maturity
True protein – composed of AA only
Non-protein nitrogen (NPN) – contains N that can be converted to
protein by bacterial action (ex. urea)
Crude protein – composed of true proteins and nitrogenous products
(NPN); CP = %N x 6.25; (100/16) 16% of all protein is N & all protein
contains N
Functions:
1. It is the basic structural unit of the body
a) Collagen – cornea and connective tissue
b) Elastin – tendons, arteries and elastic tissues
c) Keratin – hair, horn and wool
2. Body metabolism
a) Enzymes
b) Hormones
c) Immune bodies
d) Hereditary transmission
3. Excess proteins are deaminated and used by the animal as a source of
energy
 Pepsinogen
HCl

Pepsin

Protein

Trypsin
Pancreas Chemotrypsin
Peptons
Carboxypeptidase
A.A Polypeptides
Elastase
Proteoses
Polypeptidase
Dipeptidase
Vitamins
• Is an organic nutrient required in small quantities necessary for
regulating metabolic processes, but does not become actual
component of body structures
• Function as accessory nutritional factors with no structural or energy-
yielding role
• It has to be supplied in the diet because the body cannot synthesize it
• Fat soluble vitamins: A (Retinol), D (Calciferol), E (Tocopherol), K
(Menadione)
• Water soluble vitamins: B1 (Thiamin), B2 (Riboflavin), B6 (Pyridoxine),
B12 (Cyanocobalamin), Nicotinic Acid (Niacin or B3), Pantothenic Acid,
Biotin (H), Choline, Folate, C (Ascorbic Acid)
Vitamins are involved in the prevention of gross deficiency symptoms
such as:
• Thiamine – beriberi
• Nicotinamide – pellagra (corn-eater disease)
• Folic – sprue (a tropical disease)
• Cyanocobalamin – anemia (macrocytic)
• Vitamin C – scurvy
• Vitamin A – night blindness
• Vitamin D – rickets (young animals); osteomalacia (adult animals)
• Vitamin E – white muscle disease
• Vitamin K – bleeding disease (sweet clover poisoning)
Minerals
• It represent the inorganic nutrients required by an animal
• Ash is the total mineral content of plants or animals (left upon burning)
• On dry weight basis, mineral is 5% of the animal body
Classification of mineral
A. Macro minerals
• this is a mineral that is usually present in the body in large levels or
needed by the animal body and it has to be provided in the diet
1) Ca – required for bone formation; needed for muscle and nerve
function
2) P – required for bone formation and for proper energy utilization
3) Na, Cl, and K – required for maintenance of osmotic pressure and
maintenance of acid-base balance (pH)
4) Mg – required for bone formation and activation of certain
enzymes
5) S – a component of amino acids methionine and cystine
Classification of mineral
B. Micro minerals
• present in the animal’s body in low amounts and also needed by the
body in small amounts
1) Co – component of the molecule of vitamin B12
2) Fe – component of the hemoglobin molecule which is involved in
oxygen transport in the blood
3) Cu – required for absorption of iron from the intestine
4) I – component of thyroxine which controls metabolic rate
5) Mn – involved in bone and cartilage formation
6) Mo – involved in uric formation in poultry
7) Se – involved in proper absorption and retention of vitamin E
8) Zn – component of carbonic anhydrase which is involved in the
transport f carbon dioxide from the cell to the lungs
9) Fl – it increases hardness of bones and teeth
10)Ni & Cr – involved in glucose metabolism
Lesson 3
Nutrient Digestion
Basic Unit of Nutrients
Nutrient Basic Unit
Protein Amino Acid
Carbohydrates Monosaccharide
Starch Glucose (Non-ruminant)
Volatile Fatty Acids (Ruminant)
Cellulose Volatile Fatty Acids
Lipids Fatty Acid and Glycerol
Vitamins Any soluble form
Minerals Any soluble form
Nutrient Requirements of Farm Animals
1. Maintenance
• each animal has a maintenance required for feed/ration on the
various nutrients for the following purposes:
a) To maintain body weight or size (no gain or loss)
b) To support the essential life processes, i.e. respiration,
circulation, normal muscular activity, etc.
c) To maintain body temperature
d) To maintain the different body secretions
2. Growth
• is the correlated increase in the mass of the body to reach the size
at maturity fixed by heredity
• High protein level and good quality protein (amino-acid make up)
are both needed for optimum growth
• These may gradually be lowered with age
• The practical measures of growth performance of farm animals are
average daily gain in weight (ADG) and feed efficiency
3. Reproduction
• the nutrient requirements for reproduction represent the additional
amounts of the various nutrients needed for the female’s coming
into estrus, subsequent conception and adequate development of
the fetus until birth; and for the male’s maintenance of the
integrity of the reproductive organs and its sperm cells and sex
hormones
• The substantial requirement, especially of energy, protein, calcium
and phosphorous, is for the development of the fetus (pre- natal
growth)
4. Milk Production
• Lactation in any species requires substantial nutrients for synthesis
of adequate amount of milk to nourish the young. This additional
requirement above those for maintenance and possibly growth is
much more pronounced in the dairy animal, especially the dairy
cow. Dairy type animals produce milk for human consumption and
for the nourishment of their young.
5. Egg Production
• The major factors affecting nutrient requirements are rate of egg
production, egg size or weight, egg shell thickness, and body size of
layer. The principal factors affecting egg shell quality is dietary
calcium.
Measuring the Nutritive Value of Feeds
• Evaluating feedstuffs for use in livestock diets may employ a number of
procedures. These procedures should identify nutrient composition,
palatability, digestibility and productive value, physical or handling
characteristics and provide economic comparisons.

I. Analytical Methods for Nutrient Comparison:

1. Chemical procedure (gravimetric procedures, titration,
colorimetry, chromatography)
2. Biological procedures (employ animals such as chicks or rat
to give a much more accurate estimate of animal utilization but
which makes procedure more tedious and expensive)
3. Microbiological procedures (similar to biological procedures
but employ isolated bacteria)
II. Feeding Trial
• A feeding trial simply gives an indication as to whether the animal
will accept the feedstuff and the performance obtained from the
feedstuff as compared to other
III. Digestion or metabolism trial
• Running a proximate analysis of feed
• Feeding an animal a given amount of feed, or feeding at constant
rate
• Collecting feces from given amount by use of a marker or collecting
feces at a given time on a constant rate feeding
• Running a proximate analysis of feces
• The difference is the apparent digestible portion of the feed
• Computed as follows:
• Apparent digestibility (%) = Nutrient intake – nutrient in feces x 100
• Nutrient intake
Proximate Analysis
• is a combination of analytical procedures developed in Weede,
Germany more than a century ago
• Different fractions that result from the proximate analysis include
water, ash, CP, EE, CF and nitrogen-free extract (NFE)
• The most generally used chemical scheme for describing feedstuff
Determination by proximate analysis:
A. Dry matter
• Heat sample to a constant weight at a temperature above the
boiling point of water (100-1050C)
• This removes the water, so loss in weight equals water
• %DM = 100 – H2O
B. Ash (mineral)
• Burn sample by placing a weighed amount in muffle furnace for 2
hours at 6000C
• Ash is considered as the dry inorganic residue remaining
• The water, fat, protein and carbohydrates have been removed by
the process
• This high temperature may alter forms of some minerals and may
even volatilize some such as Cl, Zn, Se, and Fe
C. Crude protein (Kjeldahl process)
• Digest small dried sample in concentrated sulfuric acid until all
organic matter is destroyed
• Nitrogen from feed is now in the form of ammonium sulfate
• The digest is neutralized with sodium hydroxide, distilled, driving
the ammonia over into standard acid and titrated
• This determines the amount of nitrogen in the sample
• Protein contains an average of 16% N; therefore, total N x 6.25
equals the crude protein in the sample
D. Ether extract (Fat)
• extract dry sample with ether for a period of 4 hours or more
• This removes the fat, so again the loss in weight after drying
(evaporation of ether) equals the fat
E. Carbohydrates (CHO)
• Not determined by analysis as such, CHO = CF + NFE
1) Crude fiber (CF)
• After removal of water and ether extract from a sample of
feed, the sample is boiled in weak acid (0.255 N H2SO4), then
in weak alkali (0.312NaOH).
• This removes the proteins, sugars and starches, which are
discarded.
• Cellulose lignin and mineral matter are left in the feed residue
• This material is dried and weighed then burned in a muffle
furnace at 600oC.
• Loss in weight is reported as crude fiber
2) Nitrogen-free extract (NFE)
• NFE is found by the difference not by actual analysis
• NFE = 100 – (%water + ash + CP + CF + Fat)
F. Determination of Vitamins
• No routine analysis
• Base of chemical analysis
G. Determination of Energy
• The bomb calorimeter is an instrument used for determining the
gross energy content of a material (solid, liquid or gas)
• The energy value of the given sample is determined by burning it in
an atmosphere of oxygen
Lesson 4
Nutritive Materials
Classification of Feeds
1. Concentrates
• these are feeds low in fiber (<20%) and high in total digestible
nutrients (TDN, >60%) on an air dry basis
• A concentrated source of one or more nutrients used to enhance the
nutritional adequacy of a supplement mix
a) Energy sources – feedstuffs used primarily as a source of energy
• Example: cereal grains (corn, rice, wheat and barley), liquid
energy sources (oil and molasses), by-products (rice bran),
root crops (cassava)
b) Protein sources – feedstuffs used primarily as a source of
protein/amino acids
• plant origin ( soybean meal, copra meal, ipil-ipil leaf meal,
mungbean meal)
• animal origin (fish meal, meat meal, blood meal), non-protein
nitrogen (urea)
c) Mineral supplements – used as a source of macro or micro
minerals
• Monocalcium phosphate and bone (Ca); limestone and oyster
shell (Ca); salt (Na and Cl); cobalt sulfate (Co); limestone
d) Vitamin supplements – used as a source of specific vitamins
• Choline chloride (Choline); tocopheryl acetate (Vit. E);
menadione sodium bisulphate (Vit. K)
2. Roughages
• these are feeds containing >20% crude fiber and <60% TDN on an air
dry basis
• Needed to promote bulk in ruminants’diet
a) Proteinaceous roughages – it contains >10% crude protein on a
dry matter basis
• Centrocema (Centrocema pubescens), ipil-ipil (Leucopenia
leucocephala), stylo (Stylosanthes guyanensis), and siratro
(Macrophilium antopurpureum)
b) Carbonaceous roughages – it contains <10% crude protein on a
dry matter basis
• Improved grasses such as napier/elephant grass (Pennisetum
purpureum), guinea grass (Panicum maximum), paragrass
(Brachiaria mutica), African stargrass (Cynodon
plectostachyus); native grass such as cogon (Imperata
cylindrical), bagokbok (Themeda triandra), amorseco
(Chrysopogun aciculatus); farm waste and waste by-products
such as rice straw, corn cobs, and banana rejects
Feed Additives
• refers to the drugs or other compounds added to feeds of non-nutritive
value (does not supply nutrients) but elicit positive effect on animal
performance

1) Antibiotic
• Chemical products produced by microorganisms which are added at
subtherapeutic level
• May increase growth rate and feed conversion but are potentially
harmful when improperly used
• Observed withdrawal period for human consumption
• Ex: tylosin, chlortetracycline, bacitracin, penicillin
2. Probiotics
• These are beneficial bacterial species are introduced into the
intestine so as to enhance production of desirable by-products and
consequently improve performance
3. Arsenical
• This is a mineral which has been found to be effective against
certain diseases
4. Hormones
• These are natural or synthetic hormone preparation which increases
nitrogen retention Ex: progesterone & estradiol
5. Antioxidants
• It protects feed components (fats and oil and fat soluble vitamins)
that are susceptible to oxidation Ex: butylated hydroxytoluene,
santoquin, butylated hydroxyanisole
6. Feed Enzymes
• It enhances digestion by augmenting endogenous enzymes
(especially at young age) and facilitating digestion of poorly
digestible feed components such as fiber and phytic acid (mostly for
non-ruminant animals)
• The feed enzyme can be used as single preparation (phytase for
phytic acid; cellulose for cellulose) or combination of many enzymes
or enzyme cocktail (cellulose + beta-glucanase + amylase + lipase +
protease)
7. Acidifying agents (Acidifiers)
• These are chemical products added to the feed to decrease the pH
in the gut, thus, improving digestion in the stomach (Ex: phosphoric
acid, citric acid, lactic acid)
8. Pigmenters
• It is added to the feed to improve color of products (egg yolk)
9. Flavoring Agents
• It conceals unattractive natural smells, tastes or structures of feed
to enhance feed intake
10.Prebiotics
• It is composed of small fragments of CHO (oligosaccharides) which
are used to manipulate the gut ecosystem. It can selectively
stimulate some of all of the beneficial organisms in the gut, bringing
about balance which in turn affects the host in a beneficial way
11.Antitoxins (Toxin Binders)
• These usually are inert chemical compounds with large internal
surfaces, which can absorb or fix toxins in feeds
12.Pellet Binders
• Additives that are used to improve pellet quality
13.Surfactants
• These are chemical agents that facilitate uniform dispersion of
molecules in feeds or feed mixture
14.Anthelmintic (Dewormers)
• These are drugs used in controlling or eliminating intestinal
parasites
15.Antimolds
• These are chemical preservatives added to the feeds to prevent
mold development
16.Antimalarials
• These are chemical products used in the prevention and treatment
of malaria
17.Anticaking agents
• These are chemical products used to prevent formation of lumps in
feeds
18.Coccidiostats
• These are chemical products added to the feed to prevent and
control coccidiosis