Question

Ruminants such as cows and buffaloes swallow their food hurriedly and then sit restfully and chew their food. Can you reason why?

Answer 1

Ruminants are hooved plant-eating animals (e.g., cattle, sheep, goats etc.) that possess a unique digestive system. Their stomach is divided into four compartments – rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. During grazing, they quickly swallow plenty of grass without much chewing. This is an adaptation by which they need very little time for feeding. The half-chewed food is swallowed and it first goes from the mouth to the rumen, the first chamber of the stomach. Here it is acted upon by bacteria and microorganisms. This half-digested food then goes to the second muscular chamber-the reticulum, from where it is sent back to the mouth as cud to be chewed again. After completely chewed, the food is sent to other parts of the stomach i.e., abomasum and omasum; and ultimately to the intestine for complete digestion and absorption of food.