why does the stool of a goat, horse and a cow differ even if they’re eating the same food?
Question by Sakura: why does the stool of a goat, horse and a cow differ even if they’re eating the same food?
The Goat, after it has eaten, excretes its waste product in the pellet form.
The Cow excretes its waste in, a liquid “pile”.
The Horse excretes in round balls with bits of grass in it.
Now how is it, that these 3 creatures, eating the same foods, excrete differently? It was an interesting but disgusting question put to me which i could not answer so i hope anyone of you can answer this one for me.
Add your own answer in the comments!
4 Responses to why does the stool of a goat, horse and a cow differ even if they’re eating the same food?
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bcuz they hav different insides, thats y!
Brooke
March 24, 2013 at 4:28 am
i would say, because they are 3 different animals. its like asking why did the chicken cross the road.
rita
March 24, 2013 at 4:52 am
A cow has three stomachs, and a very large diameter intestine and little control of its anus.
A horse has one stomach, a large intestine and eats a lot of dry food. It has more control of its anus than a cow and its intestine is able to absorb more water.
A goat has a small diameter intestine and eats anything and everything and has a very tight anus. The intestinal tract from the stomach to the anus is long and absorbs much of the liquid from the fecal matter prior to it exiting the body. This produces small droppings high in fiber.
Reel Life
March 24, 2013 at 5:44 am
This is a pretty funny question. I raise goats. I’ve also owned horses for 30 years. We also have a small flock of sheep, and of course I’ve been around cattle for years.
I use to take baby goats to a second grade class every year. The teacher is a dear friend of the family.
I could answer all the questions the 2nd grade children asked but one! “Why is their poo-poo round like marbles?”
After being asked that question over and over again on the second year, I knew I had to have the answer for the 3rd year I was bringing baby goats back.
The answer was actually not that easy to come up with, it took a fair amount of research on my part, but I did come up with the correct answer.
Round poop animals: Goats, Sheep (sort of), deer, camels, alpaca, llamas, donkeys (sort of), and rabbits to name the main ones.
Horses have mostly round poop, but still quiet moist.
Cattle have big piles of liquid manure that dries into something the size of a dinner plate.
Round poop animals are highly efficient at using the water in their bodies. They wring every bit of moisture from the food/manure in their intestines. That makes the poop start to form round balls in their intestines.
Horses are more efficient at taking moisture from their food/manure than cattle are, but not as effient as the “round poop” animals.
Cattle are not efficient at taking moisture from their manure at all.
The other interesting thing to me, as a gardner, is that the round poop animals all have “cold manure.” To gardners that means the poop can be put dirrectly on gardens, the moment it comes out of the animals body, with no danger of burning the plants.
“Hot manure” animals need to have their manure composted. If it’s not composted, the fertilizer is too strong and it causes burns on garden plants.
Cow, horse, and pig manure really need to be composted a year. Chicken manure needs to be composted two years it’s so “hot.”
By hot & cold, I’m talking about the natural chemical reactions it causes, not temperature.
The round poop animals are much more gentle (in terms of their waste products) to raise as farm animals. Much more ecologically friendly.
So it makes absolutely zero difference the size of an animals anus (camels have a pretty big anus). It makes zero difference if an animal is a ruminant (has multiple stomachs). Cows, sheep, goats, deer, camels, llamas, alpaca…all ruminants.
What makes a difference is where the ancestors of that particular animal came from.
Donkeys have a very dry round poop for an equine. They of course are from deserts.
Goats and sheep came originally from dry mountain areas. Camels, llamas, alpacas, all come from deserts, or dry mountain areas.
Cattle originated in lush, damp areas, and never had to become water efficient.
I don’t think it’s a disgusting question at all. It’s actually an intersting one in the long run, and teaches on quiet a bit about animals.
~Garnet
Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years
Raising meat goats since 1999
Horse owner 30 consecutive years
Active wildlife study over 40 years
Bohemian_Garnet_Permaculturalist
March 24, 2013 at 5:51 am