How does a rabbits digestive system work?
This is how this remarkable system works: In an adult (4-4.5 kg) or semi-adult (2.5-3 kg) rabbit the total length of the alimentary canal is 4.5 to 5 m. After a short oesophagus there is a simple stomach which stores about 60-80 g of a rather pasty mixture of feedstuffs. The adjoining small intestine is about 3 m long and nearly I cm in diameter. The contents are liquid, especially in the upper part. Normally there are small tracts, about 12 cm long, which are empty. The small intestine ends at the base of the caecum. This second storage area is about 40-45 cm long with an average diameter of 3-4 cm. It contains 100-120 g of a uniform pasty mix with a dry matter content of about 20 percent. Very near the end of the small intestine, at the entrance to the caecum, begins the exit to the colon. The caecum thus appears to be a blind pouch branching off from the small intestine-colon axis (Figure 2). Physiological studies show that this blind pouch-reservoir forms part of the digestive trac
