Rumen fistulation and cannulation technique in cattle and sheep

A surgical technique for rumen fistulation and cannulation was developed for animal nutritional studies. The surgical method was used to cannulated 25 adult cows and eight lambs. The permanent fistula was made in the middle of the left paralumbar fossa in a one-stage operation. It was performed the spreading of the abdominal muscle layers and the sutures from the rumen to the peritoneum and to the skin, and the rubber cannula was inserted into the rumen wall. No severe complication was observed in ruminal cannulation, but minor leakages were observed in some animals. The cannulas had a long functional life and permited convenient sampling of digesta.