[The attaching of bypass cannulas to the duodenum of dairy cows]

Described in this paper is a bypass cannula for the small intestine (duodenum, ileum) of dairy cows, with reference being also made to the surgical method used on the duodenum. The bypass cannula is made up to flexible, curved single cannulas, 25 mm in diameter, which by a new design are safely connected to each other in a jointless, non-angular manner. The cannulas are manufactured of Type B 400/40 K PVC paste by means of a casting technique. The connecting link consists of a PVC or piacryl tube, about 45 mm in length, which is pressed by means of sleeve nuts against the collars of the two cannula openings. The bypass cannula weights 160 g and is tightly attached to the body of the animal, so that neither grazing nor calving are obstructed. Bypass problems of the past (leakage from proximal cannula, clogging, accidental opening of cannula connection) have not even occurred to high-performance cows with feed uptake rates between 3.0 and 3.5 kg of dry matter to 100 kg of live weight and corresponding digestion passages up to 400 l daily.