Musara, C.Chamunorwa, Joseph PanasheHoltug, K.Skadhauge, E.Boomker, Jacob Diederik Frederik2012-12-122012-12-1220122002Musara, C, Chamunorwa, JP, Holtug, K & Skadhauge, E 2002, 'Water absorption in relation to fermentation in the colon of the ostrich (Struthio camelus)’. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, vol. 69, no. 4, pp. 315-320.0030-2465http://hdl.handle.net/2263/20683The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.The colon is a major site for fermentation and water absorption in the ostrich. Water absorption along the colon was evaluated and its relationship to osmolality, Na+ concentration, short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration and carbohydrate content of digesta analysed. Mean water content decreased from 5.30±0.99 to 2.51±0.13 ml/g dry mass in the first 5 m of the colon. Correspondingly, mean carbohydrate content fell from 529.85±46.61 to 434.99±29.89 mg/g dry mass. A significant correlation was shown between the decreases in mean carbohydrate and water content along the colon (r²=0.997, P<0.05). Changes in mean osmolality (±10 mOsm/kg) and SCFA concentration (±7 mmol/l) were minimal in comparison to the change in Na+ concentration (-54 mmol/l). These findings reflect a close coupling between SCFA production and absorption on the one hand and water absorption on the other.© ARC-Onderstepoort and Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria (original). © University of Pretoria. Dept of Library Services (digital).Veterinary medicineColonOsmosisOstrich (Struthio camelus)Short chain fatty acid (SCFA)WaterVeterinary medicine -- South AfricaArticle