Room with a moo

      
By Jodie Salz
   Argonaut Senior Staff

      
Photo at right by Shauna Greenfield

      
Window cows can
      be found at the University of Idaho's Dairy behind the Palouse
      Mall. Window cows are used for many studies at the University
      of Idaho.  Both dairy and beef cattle are used in research.

      


      
Ever
      wanted to see the inside of a cow's stomach, while it was still
      digesting food? 

      


      For the last six years University of Idaho professors and students
      within the agriculture science department have been doing, as
      they study cattle nutrition and feed digestibility.  

      


      There are five cows and six steers on campus with plugs the size
      of a grapefruit in their side, Carl Hunt, a UI professor who
      leads the project, said. 

      


      By removing this plug, researchers are able to manually place
      food in the rumen (large portion of the stomach).

      


      The procedure is done by a veterinary surgeon who cuts a hole
      through the skin and three muscle layers and then into the rumen.
      The muscle layers are moved aside and the rumen is sutured to
      the animal's hide. 

      


      Then a plug is inserted into the hole which allows it to be opened
      and closed whenever necessary.  

      


      Hunt said the wound usually heals within a few days and the cows
      recover quickly from the process. It is a very common and fairly
      non-invasive procedure, he said. 

      


       "The animals are anesthetized for the procedure and are
      up and eating that same day," Hunt said. "They are
      also still able to breed and raise calves normally."

      


      UI researchers are using these cows to compare ease of digestion
      of several food types and their hybrids (same types of feed with
      slightly different gene combinations). 

      


      This knowledge will allow an increased efficiency in the production
      of beef and milk.  

      


      To compare the feed types, researchers place up to 90 small mesh
      bags filled with crushed feed through the plug into the cow's
      stomach.  

      


      The mesh is too small for the food to come out, but is big enough
      for microbial bacteria in the stomach to enter the bag and digest
      the food. 

      


      After a designated amount of time the bags are removed and the
      contents are compared, with the assumption that the bag with
      the least amount of remaining feed was the most easily digested
      substance. 

      


      This research will determine the best diet combinations of microbial
      bacteria within the rumen. 
 

      
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