Capacity of the gastric compartments of zebu cattle. III

Abstract

The capacity of the rumen (paunch) was determined in two lots of 20 Zebu cattle (Nelore breed), all male, by emptying this compartment of the stomach, then filling it with water. Measuring the water volume thus contained, they was found that, -the average capacity of the rumen in animals with four (35.5 months) and six (43.5 months) permanent teeth was found, respectively, equal to 79.36± 0.75 I and 88.65 ±1,68 I. Both, the correlation between rumen capacity and carcass length (measured from the junction of the seventh cervical and the first thoracic vertebrae to the lumbo-sacral junction) and the correlation between rumen capacity and carcass weight (excluding the head), were statistically significant. The capacity difference of the rumen in the two bovine lots was also found to be significant.