Volume 10, Issue 4: 172-179; July 27, 2020  
POSTMORTEM STUDY ON INDIGESTIBLE FOREIGN BODIES IN  
RUMEN AND RETICULUM OF CATTLE (CASE: HARAMAYA AND  
AWADAY MUNICIPAL ABATTOIRS, EASTERN ETHIOPIA)  
Ibsa AMIN and Tewodros FENTAHUN  
Unit of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Gondar, P.O. Box 196, Gondar, Ethiopia.  
Supporting Information  
ABSTRACT: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November, 2017 to March, 2018 at Haramaya and  
Awaday Municipal Abattoirs of Oromia Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia, with the objectives of assessing the  
prevalence of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies, identifying types of foreign bodies and associated risk factors  
for the occurrences of foreign bodies. Following appropriate ante-mortum examinations, postmortem  
examinations were employed for the recovery of foreign body from rumen and reticulum. The study animals  
were selected by using systematic random sampling using regular interval to study animal from the total  
slaughtered animals. From a total of 384 (207 female and 177 male) cattle examined, 41.7% (n=160) were  
found to contain foreign bodies at slaughter. When the prevalence was compared between genders, breed,  
among different age groups, and different body condition score, higher prevalence of foreign bodies 50.7%,  
75.0%, 80.0%, 83.3%, were observed in female, cross breed, age older than 10 years, and animal having poor  
body condition score respectively. These aforementioned factors are considered as potential risk factors were  
highly significantly associated with the occurrence of foreign bodies. Rumen harbored mostly plastic materials  
while reticulum was the major site for the retention of metallic objects. The non-penetrating foreign bodies have  
higher prevalence than penetrating foreign bodies. The commonly recovered non-penetrating foreign bodies  
were plastics (46.9%), cloth (30.0%), rope (21.3%) and leather (18.8%). The penetrating foreign bodies were  
metals (5%). Plastics were recovered as the most common foreign bodies and followed by cloths, Ropes, and  
leathers. It is concluded that the detection of this level of prevalence of foreign bodies in cattle causes high  
mortality and morbidity, reduced production and productivity. Therefore, appropriate solid waste disposal system  
need to implement in the study area to prevent health risk of ruminants and also to protect the environment.  
Keywords: Body Condition Score, Cattle, Foreign body, Reticulum, Rumen.  
INTRODUCTION  
Ingestion of foreign bodies is one of the major bottle necks to livestock development in the tropics (Gupta and  
Single, 2013; Fasil, 2016). In Ethiopia, ruminants are kept under an extensive type of management are likely to be  
exposed to the ingestion of indigestible garbage from various sources due to a wide spread environmental  
contamination with plastic bags, absence of policy to protect environment and frequent occurrence of drought that  
predispose animals to nutritional deficiency and pica (Abebe and Nuru, 2011).  
Gastrointestinal foreign bodies are among the most common surgical emergency in veterinary medicine.  
Cattle are more susceptible to foreign body syndrome than small ruminants because cattle do not use their lips for  
prehension, they are more likely to ingest foreign bodies than small ruminants as they are more likely to eat  
chopped feed in which foreign bodies may be incorporated (Bayne and Edmondson, 2020).  
According to different studies, the common non-piercing foreign bodies commonly ingested by ruminants are  
plastic bags, sack thread, ropes, leather, rubber, bed linen, pieces of lead pipe, straw baskets, hair and plant fibers  
(bezoars) (Anwar et al., 2013). While wire, needles, nails and stones are the major penetrating foreign bodies  
isolated from ruminants (Bwatota et al., 2018). The indiscriminate feeding habits and mineral deficiency make  
Environmental pollution is one of the growing problems for grazing animals due to absence of recycling  
industries, cleaning of environment cultures, improper disposal of plastic bags; free grazing animals eat plastic bags  
especially in towns and villages (Bhaskara and Sasikala, 2012; Reuters, 2019). These plastic bags are indigestible  
and their accumulation in the rumen of grazing animals may lead to adverse effect on health (Ghurashi et al.,  
2009); plastic bags resist to biodegradation and pollute for decades and centuries and pose great risk to human  
health and environment (Ramaswamy and Sharama, 2011). Feed shortage usually occurs at specific time of the  
year in most part of Ethiopia. Moreover, most owners do not provide supplementary feed to animals. These in turn  
may predispose the animals to negative energy balance and force them to feed on unusual materials including  
plastics, clothes, ropes and even metallic substances (Bhaskara and Sasikala, 2012; Tesfaye et al., 2012). In  
addition, industrialization and mechanization of agriculture have further increased the incidence of foreign bodies in  
the animals (Semieka, 2010). The ingestion of foreign bodies causes various problems in different organ of the  
animal mainly in rumen and reticulum. The problem that are caused vary with the duration that the foreign body  
172  
Citation: Amin I and Fentahun T (2020). Postmortem study on indigestible foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum of cattle (case: Haramaya and Awaday municipal  
abattoirs, Eastern Ethiopia). Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 10(4): 172-179.  
has been present, the location of foreign body, the degree of obstruction that is caused as well as problems  
associated with the material of the foreign body. Glossitis, esophagitis, ruminitis, impaction of rumen, traumatic  
pericarditis (TP) and traumatic reticulo peritonitis (TRP) are the possible health problems which can be caused by  
the ingestion of foreign bodies by the cattle (Desiye and Mersha, 2012). Traumatic reticulo-peritonitis disease in  
cattle is caused by the ingestion of foreign bodies in the reticulum swallowed metallic objects such as nail or pieces  
of wire fall directly on the reticulum or pass into the rumen and subsequently carried over the rumeno-reticular folds  
into the cranioventral part of the reticulum (Radostits et al., 2007; Braun et al., 2018).  
The presence of foreign bodies in the rumen and reticulum hampers the absorption of volatile fatty acids and  
consequently reduction in the rate of animal fattening (Bassa and Tesfaye, 2017) the perforation of the wall of the  
reticulum can also allow leakage of ingest and bacteria which contaminates the peritoneal cavity, resulting in local  
or diffuse peritonitis (Anwar et al., 2013).  
Animals with large amount of blunt foreign bodies show anorexia, depression, intermittent respiratory distress,  
recurrent rumen tympany, rumen stasis, dehydration, reduced milk yield, distended left paralumbarfossa and  
sometimes vomiting (Reddy and Sasikala, 2012; Abu-Seida and Al-Abbadi, 2014). Tachycardia, muffled heart  
sounds, distended jugular veins, pericardial sounds like splashing, rubbing or squeaking sounds, brisket and ventral  
edema were observed in cattle with traumatic reticulopericarditis (Ramin et al., 2011). Shrunken rumen,  
strangulated foreign bodies, congested ruminal mucosa and ulceration are the common necropsy findings in  
This disease is of high economic importance and serious due to severe reduction in milk and meat production,  
treatment costs, potential fatalities and fetal losses in affected animals (Sileshi et al., 2013). The condition is  
usually common in urban and peri- urban areas where extensive building are carried out and proper plastic material  
disposal is not conditioned and so thrown on roads and near the fence or anywhere and that is way our dairy cattle  
are dying mainly associated with foreign bodies (Ramaswamy and Sharama, 2011). Many efforts were made to  
study infectious disease prevalent in the country, however, solid environmental pollution (Foreign Body’s) have been  
given lesser attention to be treated as a separate health problem. Therefore, the objectives of current study were to  
assess the prevalence of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies in cattle slaughtered at Haramaya and Awaday  
Municipal Abattoirs. As well as, the type of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies will be identified.  
MATERIALS AND METHODS  
Study area  
The study was conducted in Haramaya and Awaday municipal abattoirs, Eastern Hararghe zone, and Oromia  
region. The Awaday town is located 9021’10’’ N, 42013’46’’ E with average altitude of 1962 m at a distance of 510  
km from capital Addis Ababa (Mekonnen and Uttama, 2014).The Haramaya town is located at 509 Km from Addis  
Ababa at an elevation of 1400 to 2340 meter above sea level. The town situated between a latitude and longitude  
of 42°01′E and 9°24′N respectively. The mean annual rainfall received range from 600 to 1260 mm with bimodal  
nature Minimum and maximum annual temperature range from 60C to 120C and 170C to 250C respectively. The  
relative humidity varies between 60% to 80%. The farming system in the area is mixed type (crop-livestock  
production). The total population of people in the area is estimated to be 352,031 according to (CSA, 2013). The  
livestock population of the study district is estimated to be 76 336 cattle, 65 083 sheep, 84 916 goats, 22 355  
donkeys, 356 camels and 89 800 chickens (CSA, 2012).  
Study animals  
The study was conducted on 384 apparently healthy slaughtered cattle in Haramaya and Awaday Municipal  
Abattoirs from November, 2017 to April, 2018. It has been difficult to trace back the origin of animals, since the  
animals pass a chain of markets. Nevertheless, attempts made in this regard revealed that majority of them were  
bought from nearby markets. Animals from both local and cross breed cattle were brought to both municipal  
abattoirs. Even though, the study animals were kept under broad range of management and animals in most of the  
rural areas were kept to graze pasture on grassland and supplementary feedings of crop residue when pasture in  
scarce especially during long dry season.  
Study design  
A cross sectional study was conducted from November, 2017 to April, 2018 to assess the prevalence of the  
rumen and reticulum foreign bodies, to identify the types of foreign bodies, and their associated risk factors for the  
occurrence of the foreign bodies were sex, age, Breed, and body conditions were considered as risk factor for  
occurrence of foreign bodies.  
Sampling method  
A cattle slaughtered during each visit day were selected by systematic random sampling using regular interval  
to study the prevalence of foreign body and identification of types of foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum in cattle  
slaughtered at Haramaya and Awaday Municipal Abattoirs of Eastern Ethiopia.  
Sample size determination  
The study was carried out by determining the sample size according to Thrusfield (2005), for an infinite  
population with 95% confidence level, 5% desired absolute precision by considering expected prevalence of the  
rumen and reticulum foreign bodies in cattle in the area. Therefore, the sample size was as follows:  
173  
Citation: Amin I and Fentahun T (2020). Postmortem study on indigestible foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum of cattle (case: Haramaya and Awaday municipal  
abattoirs, Eastern Ethiopia). Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 10(4): 172-179.  
n= 1.962 x Pexp (1-Pexp) /d2  
Where:  
n = required sample size; Pexp = expected prevalence; d2 = desired absolute precision.  
Based on the above formula 384 animals were needed but there was no previous study on the occurrence of  
rumen and reticulum foreign bodies of cattle slaughtered at haramaya and awaday Municipal Abattoirs. The sample  
size for this work were determined using 50% expected prevalence and 5% absolute precision at 95% confidence  
level using the above formula, 384 cattle are intended to be sampled.  
Data collections  
Ante mortem examination. Ante mortem examination on individual animals was done for assessment of age,  
sex, breed, body condition. Sex (female and male), age was categorized into young (<5 years), adult (5-10 years)  
and old (>10 years), body condition (good, medium and poor). Body condition of cattle was recorded as poor,  
medium and good based on the appearance of the animal and manual palpation of the spines proses and  
transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae described by Nicholson and Butterworth (1986) and breeds was  
classified as local and cross based on the species of animal brought to abattoir. The age of the animal was also  
scored according to Mari (1989) based on dentition. Each animal selected for the study was further identified by  
providing a unique identification number that could be used for both ante-mortem and post-mortem examinations  
of the animal and each animals mark for the identification by writing a code on its gluteal muscle by using ink.  
Postmortem Examination. In the postmortem examination rumen and reticulum were examined. Immediately  
after slaughtered in the evisceration stage, the stomach was carefully removed from the abdominal cavity and open  
and explored for the presence of any foreign material by visualization and palpation. Any foreign bodies obtained  
during inspection are washed by water to removing feed material and identified. When the finding is positive, the  
location and type of the foreign bodies was recorded otherwise recorded as negative postmortem recorded sheet.  
Data management and statistical analysis  
The data collected was entered and scored in Microsoft excel worksheet. Before subjected to statistical  
analysis, the data were thoroughly screened for errors and properly coded. For analysis SPSS Microsoft software  
Version 20 was used. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to summarize and present the data collected. The  
prevalence of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies were calculated as percentage by dividing total number of cattle  
positive for foreign bodies to the total number of cattle examined. Pearson chi square (χ2) test was employed to  
assess the existence of association between prevalence of the foreign bodies and potential risk factors considered.  
For (χ2) test, p-value < 0.05 were considered significant whereas p-value > 0.05 considered non-significant.  
RESULT  
A cross sectional study was conducted from November 2017 to March, 2018 at Haramaya and Awaday Municipal  
Abattoir. From the total of 384 cattle’s examined for the presences of any foreign bodies in their rumen and  
reticulum, 41.7% (160/384) of them were found positive. From 160 positive cases of foreign body, 129 (80.6%)  
were occurred in rumen while 16 (10%) in reticulum and 14 (8.8%) in rumen and reticulum. The types of foreign  
bodies were detected plastics, leathers, clothes, ropes, Stone or Calcified and Metal. From this plastics 75 (46.9%),  
cloth 48 (30.0%), rope 34 (21.3%) and leather 30(18.8%) were more frequently encountered of the positive cases  
respectively.  
Foreign body regarding to breed  
From the total 384 animals 352 local breeds and 32 cross breeds were examined and 136(38.6%) and  
24(75.0%) of foreign bodies were detected in both breeds respectively. So, the prevalence of rumen and reticulum  
foreign bodies was higher in cross breed cattle. The statically analysis also showed that there exist highly significant  
differences among different breed (p=0.000) which is P<0.05 in the occurrences of foreign bodies (Table 1).  
Table 1 - Breed distribution of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies in cattle at Haramaya and Awaday Municipal  
Abattoirs.  
Breed  
Foreign body  
Total  
Local  
49 (13.9%)  
15(4.3%)  
22(6.2%)  
10(2.8%)  
4(1.1%)  
8(2.3%)  
10(2.8%)  
7(2.0%)  
5(1.4%)  
-
Cross  
7 (21.9%)  
Plastic  
Rope  
Cloth  
Leather  
Stone or Calcified  
Metal  
Plastic and rope  
Cloth and leather  
Plastic and cloth  
Leather and plastic  
Cloth and rope  
No foreign body  
56  
15  
23  
14  
4
-
1(3.1%)  
4(12.5%)  
-
-
-
8
10  
11  
5
4
9
4(12.5%)  
-
4(12.5%)  
4(12.5%)  
8(25.0%)  
5(1.4%)  
217(61.6%)  
225  
Total  
χ2= 15.958; p=0.00  
352  
32  
384  
174  
Citation: Amin I and Fentahun T (2020). Postmortem study on indigestible foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum of cattle (case: Haramaya and Awaday municipal  
abattoirs, Eastern Ethiopia). Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 10(4): 172-179.  
Foreign bodies relation with age  
Study animals were grouped in to three as young (< 5 years), adult (5-10 years) and old (> 10 years) From 160,  
194 and 30 animals were examined with age in these age groups, 38(23.8%), 98(50.5%) and 24(80.0%) were  
found positive, respectively. Foreign bodies were more frequently encountered in old animals than other two groups.  
The statically analysis also showed that there exist highly significant differences among the three age groups  
(p=0.000) which is P<0.05 in the occurrences of foreign bodies as shows in (Table 2).  
Foreign bodies in relation to sex  
From 160 positive animals, 105 (50.7%) and 55 (31.1%) were detected in female and male animals,  
respectively. Foreign bodies were observed at the maximum of 50.7% in female cattle compared to male 31.1%.  
There was statistically strongly significant association (p= 0.00) in the frequency of occurrence between male and  
female (Table 3).  
Table 2 - Age distribution of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies in cattle at Haramaya and Awaday Municipal  
Abattoirs.  
Age  
Foreign body  
Total  
≤5 year  
22(13.8%)  
6(3.8%)  
3(1.9%)  
5-10 year  
32(16.5%)  
9(4.6%)  
17(8.8%)  
10(5.2%)  
2(1.0%)  
4(2.1%)  
4(2.1%)  
11(5.7%)  
4(2.1%)  
4(2.1%)  
-
≥10years  
2(6.7%)  
-
3(10.0%)  
4(13.3%)  
2(6.7%)  
-
3(10.0%)  
-
1(3.3%)  
-
Plastic  
Rope  
Cloth  
Leather  
Stone or Calcified  
Metal  
Plastic and rope  
Cloth and leather  
Plastic and cloth  
Leather and plastic  
Cloth and rope  
No foreign body  
Total  
56  
15  
23  
14  
4
-
-
4(2.5%)  
3(1.9%)  
8
10  
11  
5
4
9
225  
384  
-
-
-
-
9(30.0%)  
6(20.0%)  
30  
122(76.2%)  
160  
97(50.0%)  
194  
χ2= 45.518 ; p=0.00  
Table 3 - Sex distribution of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies in cattle at Haramaya and Awaday Municipal  
Abattoirs.  
Sex  
Foreign body  
Total  
Female  
29(14.0%)  
9(4.3%)  
22(10.6%)  
11(5.3%)  
3(1.4%)  
1(0.5%)  
7(3.4%)  
7(3.4%)  
3(1.4%)  
4(1.9%)  
9(4.3%)  
102(49.3%)  
207  
Female  
27(15.3%)  
6(3.4%)  
1(0.6%)  
3(1.7%)  
1(0.6%)  
7(4.0%)  
3(1.7%)  
4(2.3%)  
2(1.1%)  
-
Plastic  
Rope  
Cloth  
Leather  
Stone or Calcified  
Metal  
Plastic and rope  
Cloth and leather  
Plastic and cloth  
leather and plastic  
Cloth and rope  
No foreign body  
Total  
56  
15  
23  
14  
4
8
10  
11  
5
4
9
225  
384  
-
123(69.5%)  
177  
χ2 = 15.159 ; p=0.00  
Foreign body with regard to body condition score  
From total of 384 cattle 24,208 and 152 animals were examined with poor, medium and good body condition,  
20 (83.3%), 130 (62.5%) and 10 (6.6%) were positive for foreign body, respectively. The statically analysis also  
showed that there exist highly significant differences among the three body condition score groups (p=0.000) which  
is P<0.05 in the occurrences of foreign bodies (Table 4).  
Foreign bodies with regard to Lodgment sit  
From 160 positive cases of foreign body, 129(80.6%) were occurred in rumen while 16(10.0%) in reticulum  
and 14(8.8%) in both rumen and reticulum. Prevalence of foreign bodies to lodgment sites was highly statistically  
significant (p < 0.05) (Table 5).  
175  
Citation: Amin I and Fentahun T (2020). Postmortem study on indigestible foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum of cattle (case: Haramaya and Awaday municipal  
abattoirs, Eastern Ethiopia). Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 10(4): 172-179.  
Table 4 - Prevalence and frequency of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies in cattle slaughtered at Haramaya and  
Awaday Municipal Abattoirs in association with body condition.  
Body Condition Score  
Foreign body  
Total  
Poor  
1(4.2%)  
-
5(20.8%)  
4(16.7%)  
1(4.2%)  
3(12.5%)  
2(8.3%)  
4(16.7%)  
-
Medium  
49(23.6%)  
12(5.8%)  
18(8.7%)  
10(4.8%)  
3(1.4%)  
5(2.4%)  
8(3.8%)  
7(3.4%)  
5(2.4%)  
4(1.9%)  
9(4.3%)  
78(37.5%)  
208  
Good  
6(3.9%)  
3(2.0%)  
Plastic  
Rope  
Cloth  
Leather  
Stone or Calcified  
Metal  
Plastic and rope  
Cloth and leather  
Plastic and cloth  
Leather and plastic  
Cloth and rope  
No foreign body  
Total  
56  
15  
23  
14  
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
8
10  
11  
5
4
9
225  
384  
-
-
-
4(16.7%)  
24  
143(94.1%)  
152  
χ2= 131.22; p=0.00  
Table 5 - Frequency of occurrence of rumen and reticulum foreign body in cattle slaughtered at Haramaya and  
Awaday Municipal Abattoirs.  
Location site of Foreign Body  
Foreign body  
Total  
Rumen and  
Reticulum  
Reticulum  
Rumen  
None  
Plastic  
Rope  
Cloth  
Leather  
Stone or Calcified  
Metal  
3(19.0%)  
44(34.11%)  
11(8.53%)  
21(16.3%)  
14(10.9%)  
_
9(64.3%)  
4(28.6%)  
1(7.14%)  
_
_
_
_
_
56  
15  
23  
14  
4
_
1(6.25%)  
_
_
_
_
4(25.0%)  
8(50.0%)  
_
_
8
Plastic and rope  
Cloth and leather  
Plastic and cloth  
Leather and plastic  
Cloth and rope  
No foreign body  
Total  
_
_
_
_
_
10(7.8)  
11(8.53%)  
5(3.90%)  
4(3.10%)  
9(7.0%)  
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
225  
225  
10  
11  
5
4
9
225  
384  
_
16  
129  
14  
χ2= 379.9; p=0.00  
DISCUSSION  
Ingestion of indigestible foreign materials by ruminants is a common problem as reported by Ghurashi et al. (2009).  
The present study revealed an overall prevalence of 160 (41.7%) of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies in cattle  
slaughtered at Haramaya and Awaday Municipal abattoirs. This occurrence of foreign bodies is almost similar with  
report of Sheferaw et al. (2014) who reported 41.8% in cattle from the Amhara region of Ethiopia and slightly lower  
than the report from eastern Ethiopia at Haramaya University and Haramaya municipal abattoirs Negash et al.  
(2015) who reported 43.4% in cattle and significantly lower than the prevalence (77.41%) which was reported by  
Ismail et al. (2007) in adult dairy cattle having indigestible foreign bodies in their fore-stomach, as the result they  
are suffering from recurrent rumen tympani in Jordan. These differences could be due to the differences in  
availability of predisposing factors is those area, and the problem of waste management system, poor  
management of animals and industrialization increased the incidence of foreign bodies between countries.  
Moreover, the time of the study also could play a role for the differences where in recent times the rate of  
intensification of animal management is increasing and as a result the probability of animals to be exposed to  
foreign materials might be declined as the animals are staying in a limited confinement for longer time.  
In present study, the higher prevalence (50.7%) of foreign bodies was detected in female cattle than male  
(31.1%). These results are in agreement with the findings of Vanitha et al. (2010) stating that, the foreign bodies  
were found more frequently in female cattle than male in their study on 30 stray cattle having clinical symptoms  
suggestive of ruminal impaction. Similarly, Zegeye (2011) reported that higher level of occurrence of foreign bodies  
in female cattle in retrospective study of clinical cases of farm animal in three years period in University of Gondar  
Veterinary Clinic. Roman and Hiwot (2010) have also reported that higher degree of occurrence of foreign bodies in  
female ruminants compared to male. This may be due to female animals are more exposed to the environmental  
176  
Citation: Amin I and Fentahun T (2020). Postmortem study on indigestible foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum of cattle (case: Haramaya and Awaday municipal  
abattoirs, Eastern Ethiopia). Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 10(4): 172-179.  
pollution as they kept for production purpose for longer period of time and there might be increased appetite of  
female animals due to the nutritional demands during pregnancy and lactation.  
The highest frequency of occurrence of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies were detected in animal’s ≥10  
year (80.0%) followed by 5-10 years (50.5%) and ≤5 years (23.8%) age group of animals. Highest prevalence  
(80.0%) of foreign bodies was detected in cattle greater than 10 year than other age group. This finding is in  
agreement with Desiye and Mersha (2012) who recover (81.25%) of foreign bodies in cattle greater than 10 year  
age. Rahel (2011) also reported (17.85%) of the animals had higher frequency of foreign bodies in rumen and  
reticulum in the old age. The present Prevalence is relatively high since it may be that ingestion of foreign bodies is  
associated with shortage of forage during the long dry season, owners were not supply supplementary feed and  
increased demand of feed, and pollution of grazing land with indigestible foreign bodies.  
In this finding, the prevalence was higher in the cross breed cattle (75.0%) compare to local breeds (38.6%).  
This findings are agree with the work of Desiye and Mersha (2012) who found 70% in cross breed and 10.77% in  
local breed and Rahel (2011) who reported forestomach foreign bodies with the high prevalence of 58.82% in  
crossbreeds. Sileshi et al. (2013) reported that cross breed animals are more exposed for indigestible foreign  
bodies than local breeds. The higher prevalence in cross breed might be associated with their higher productivity  
which requires high demand of nutrition that enforces cattle to indiscriminately feeding and hence increased  
exposure to foreign bodies.  
This study also identified the highest prevalence of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies were detected in  
animals with poor body condition (83.3%) followed by medium (62.5%) and good body condition (6.6%) score  
animals. This finding agree with the work of Desiye and Mersha (2012) who recovered foreign body at higher  
prevalence from the rumen and reticulum of poor body conditioned animal (72.72%) than medium (35.95%) and  
good (7.33%) body condition. Poor body condition by itself might be due to the contribution of the foreign body that  
is the animal loss weight after it has been exposed or it might be due to the interference of foreign body with the  
absorption of volatile fatty acid (VFA) and thus causes reduced weight gain reported by Rahel (2011).  
Metallic foreign bodies were most frequently recovered from reticulum. This finding agrees with the report of  
(Sileshi et al., 2012) who recovered metallic foreign bodies at highest prevalence from reticulum. In addition, Desiye  
and Mersha (2012) reported the highest prevalence (87.5%) of metallic foreign bodies from reticulum. The reason  
might be due to retention of these foreign bodies by the honey comb structure of the reticular mucosa and their  
heavy weight give chance to be attracted to the lumen of the reticulum due to gravitational attraction force of these  
heavy foreign bodies to the ventral part of the fore-stomach.  
The types of foreign bodies detected in this study were plastic, cloth, leather, rope, metal (wire) and stone or  
calcified. Berrie et al. (2015) also found the same thing. This study indicated that most foreign bodies occurred in  
the rumen (80.6%) than reticulum (10%). This may be due to the fact that many ingested feed goes to the rumen.  
The results of this study further indicate that Plastic was the most commonly encountered (45.6%) foreign material  
in all study animals, followed by cloth (30.0 %) and rope (21.3%). This finding is in general agreement with various  
Tesfaye et al., 2012). This is due to these materials used for storing wastes, shopping bags and packing food items  
and disposed everywhere after using, hence they were eaten by the free grazing animal.  
CONCLUSTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS  
The current finding is used to assess the prevalence of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies, to identify the type of  
foreign bodies and to identify the magnitude and occurrence of fore stomach foreign bodies done in Haramaya and  
Awaday municipal abattoirs. Sex, breed, age, and body condition score were considered risk factors for the  
occurrence of foreign bodies. And this study revealed that rumen and reticulum foreign bodies have great economic  
significance associated with reduced production and productivity of animals suffering from them. The overall  
prevalence of foreign bodies was 160(41.7%). Similarly, Plastic was found the most common foreign bodies found  
preferably in Rumen (34.11%). On the other hand, Female (14.0%) local breeds (13.9%), aged 5-10 years (16.5%)  
with medium body condition (23.6%) were mostly affected. Degree of association was highly statistically significant  
for the occurrence of foreign body in cattle. Both female and cross breed cattle are the most affected groups  
compared to that of male and local breed cattle respectively. According to body condition score of cattle, poor body  
conditions were more affected groups than cattle which have medium and good body conditions. Most of the  
nonmetallic foreign bodies lodged in rumen while metallic foreign bodies lodged in reticulum.  
Awareness for owners should be implemented to avoid the risk of foreign body ingestion such as prevent  
nutritional deficiencies and not allowing animals in polluted grazing land. Appropriate solid waste disposal system  
should be implemented. Enforcement of recycling of plastic bags and other environmental pollutants so that threat  
to environment and life can be reduced. The finding of this study could help environmental activists, veterinarians,  
and livestock owners to recognize the impact of foreign bodies on cattle’s health and productivity in this area.  
DECLARATION  
Authors’ contribution  
The two authors reviewed the paper and contributed in developing the content.  
Availability of data  
The data can be availed to the journal upon request.  
177  
Citation: Amin I and Fentahun T (2020). Postmortem study on indigestible foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum of cattle (case: Haramaya and Awaday municipal  
abattoirs, Eastern Ethiopia). Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 10(4): 172-179.  
Consent to publish  
Not applicable  
Conflict of interest  
The authors declare they have no competing of interests.  
Acknowledgement  
The authors would wish to acknowledge Eco Fuels Kenya LTD (EFK) for their support through the whole process of  
developing this publication.  
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