Cattle, like sheep, goats and alpacas are “ruminants”. Their digestive system is very different from humans, dogs and
horses, the key difference being the presence of 4 stomachs (3 in alpacas), the first of which is called the rumen. The
rumen contains a lot of bacteria, protozoa and a range of other microbes that have the task of digesting the cellulose in the plants that cattle eat. The cow regurgitates, chews and then swallows the food several times in a process known as “ruminating” or “chewing the cud”. The combination of the microbes in the rumen and the cow chewing and re‐
chewing the food enables that food to break down sufficiently for the nutrients to be absorbed by the animal. … Click to Read
Basic Nutrition Care for Cattle
