Assignment: You just read about the dairy cow's digestive process. In the picture above, can you guess where the four stomachs and the udder are? Click on the picture to see if you are correct! The reticulum also softens the consumed grass and forms small pieces of cud. The third compartment of the stomach, the omasum, is characterized by folds that increase the surface area of absorption, specifically about meter square.
The abomasum works similarly to a human stomach. It is connected to the intestines and helps digest the protein from the food and ruminal microbes by producing gastric juices.
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As mentioned above, cows eat their food, regurgitate it, and consume it once again. Regular contractions of the rumen walls lead to the accumulation of the freshly eaten food to the rear section of the mat.
Bacteria present in the rumen combine with the food, gradually digesting the fermentable material. The bacteria then break down the cellulose present in the food. As the process continues and as the bacteria works, the food particles become smaller and smaller.
Although not entirely digested, some of the grass or plant matter is broken down. Smaller cuds of food are broken down during the process of rumination. Overall, the food spends hours in and out of the rumen. The food undergoes chewing, swallowing, regurgitating, followed by the cow swallowing it again throughout the process. Want to know what wildlife lives in puddles. Find out in this article I wrote. Next, the food advances to the reticulum. Although most of the fermentation occurs in the rumen, the reticulum works to provide a passage for the food into regurgitation or the omasum.
The reticulum separates the food that is ready from the food that needs more chewing and is further broken down. The reticulum also traps inedible items such as tiny pieces of wire, rocks, or fencing pieces that the cow ejects orally.
When the cow chews the food once again, it is transferred to the sponge-like omasum. This is the compartment where water and some previously broken down nutrients begin to be absorbed. The omasum sucks out minerals, water, and salt, further returning them to the rumen to ensure an optimal environment for the bacteria to thrive. Once the cow is finished chewing the cud, it again swallows the matter back down to the stomach. Generally, the stomach functions to further break down plant matter and grain.
More specifically, there are four sections of the stomach — rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum — each with a particular job to do.
These sections store chewed plant material and grain, absorb nutrients and vitamins, break down proteins, aid in beginning digestion and dissolve material into processable pieces. The next section will focus more closely on the responsibilities and functions of each stomach compartment. The small intestine has three main sections — the duodenum, jejunum and ileum — that work together to complete most of the actual digestive process.
In the duodenum, the section connected to the stomach, secretions from the gallbladder and pancreas mix with the partially digested matter. This process balances the pH in the intestine, ensuring the digestive enzymes work correctly. The jejunum section is lined with small, finger-like projections known as villi, which increase the intestinal surface area and absorb nutrients. The ileum absorbs vitamin B12, bile salts and any nutrients that passed through the jejunum. At the end of the ileum is a valve, preventing any backward flow of materials.
Throughout the small intestine, muscular contractions move the matter forward. In a fully mature cow, the entire organ may be up to feet long and has a gallon capacity. Sitting between the small and large intestines is a three-foot-long pouch called the cecum.
It has little function besides providing storage and a transition between the two intestines, but it does aid in the continual breaking down of material. The cecum has about a two-gallon holding capacity. Smaller in length but larger in diameter than the small intestine, the large intestine is the final step of the digestive process.
It absorbs remaining water and contains bacteria microbes that finish digestion and produce vitamins the animal needs to grow and remain healthy. Its last job is to eliminate any undigested and unabsorbed food from the system in the form of waste.
When the cow is properly handled and fed, this process continually occurs, keeping the animal healthy and at the right weight. The entire digestion process should take anywhere from one to three days. If something interrupts this process or the cattle is unhealthy, the sections will no longer be able to function as well as they should, causing diseases and complications. These compartments are:. This compartment acts as storage for chewed vegetation and forms balls of cud.
Cud consists of large, non-digestible pieces of plant matter that must be regurgitated, chewed a second time and swallowed before continuing through the process. The rumen absorbs nutrients through papillae of the rumen wall and facilitates fermentation, creating the rumen bacteria and rumen microbes necessary to break down and digest the proteins in feed.
Microorganisms in the rumen are responsible for digesting cellulose and complex starches, as well as synthesizing protein, B vitamins and vitamin K. As a storage area, it can hold up to 40 gallons of material. While it does have its independent functionality, the reticulum is attached to the rumen with only a thin tissue divider.
This component holds heavy or dense objects — such as metal pieces and rocks — and trap large feed particles that are not small enough to be digested. The reticulum facilitates regurgitation. Both the rumen and reticulum contain digestive bacteria, so no acid is included in the regurgitation of materials. The reticulum holds about 5 gallons of material. One common health issue involving the reticulum is hardware disease, which occurs when cattle ingest heavy or sharp objects — like nails, screws or wire.
They are swept into the reticulum and may puncture the stomach wall. This disease is preventable by putting magnets on feeding equipment to catch any metal, or cured by the placement of an intraruminal magnet that traps already swallowed objects. It is lined with large leaves and folds of tissue that resemble the pages of a book. These folds absorb water and nutrients from feed that passes through after its second round of chewing. It can hold up to about 15 gallons of material.
This true stomach is the only compartment of the stomach lined with glands. These glands release hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes to help the abomasum further break down feed and plant material. Each of these components is vital in maintaining a healthy digestive process. They must cooperate quickly and efficiently to turn grain and plant matter into energy for the cattle. So now you know just how amazing cows are! Their bodies put in a lot of work to absorbing the maximum nutrient value from what they eat.
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