BASIC BODY STRUCTURE

INTRODUCTION

Here we will review briefly those parts of the animal body that provide the life-support system for the parts we are really interested in - the things we can sell for lots of money. But the bits and pieces we remove in the abattoir to produce a dressed carcass are important. Not much gets thrown away, and the animal by-product industry is also a vital part of the overall economic system of animal agriculture and must be included in any consideration of animal growth or meat science.

Abattoir technology includes all the methods used to produce a dressed carcass from a live animal and is an important subject with regard to animal welfare. From a scientific viewpoint as well, it is not possible to ignore all other body systems except those that contribute directly to the commercial carcass.

  1. DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
  2. CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
  3. RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
  4. URINARY SYSTEM
  5. REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
  6. NERVOUS SYSTEM
  7. ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
  8. INTEGUMENT
  9. ABATTOIR METHODS

HELP on some descriptive terms

A number of anatomical terms are needed to describe the relative positions of structures within the body.

Anterior = towards the head

Posterior = towards the tail

Dorsal = towards the upper part or back of the standing animal

Ventral = towards the lower part or belly of the standing animal

Medial = towards the midline plane that separates right and left sides of the body

Lateral = towards the sides of a standing animal

Proximal = towards the body in a limb of the animal

Distal = away from the body in a limb of the animal

The names for different types of farm animals also may be unfamiliar to some readers. The adjectives that relate to cattle, sheep and pigs are bovine, ovine and porcine, respectively. The first of these may be used elliptically so that bovine may stand for bovine animal. For cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, the sire or father is called a bull, a ram, a boar or a cock (tom in turkeys), respectively, while the dam or mother is called a cow, a ewe, a sow or a hen, respectively. A heifer is an immature female bovine, and a gilt is an immature female pig. A hogget is a yearling sheep. The neonates or new-born of cattle, sheep and pigs are called calves, lambs or piglets, respectively. For pigs, the process of birth or parturition is called farrowing. Newly hatched chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese are called chicks, poults, ducklings or goslings, respectively. For cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, a castrated male is called a steer, a wether, a barrow or a caponxv , respectively.