The time taken for ingested feed to pass through a part of, or the entire length of, the digestive tract. Ingesta are propelled by intermittent waves of muscular contraction (peristalsis). For example, for the stomach the transit time may range from 15minutes to two hours, for the small intestine, 30 minutes to a few hours. For the stomach and small intestine combined the average is 4-7 hours, and for the large intestine an additional 40 hours approximately. Much depends on the type of feed and particle size with preserved forages moving more slowly than for example pelleted concentrates.
