WHY DO SOME ANIMALS RUMINATE BY MUNIPALLI AKSHAY PAUL | JVR | 26 APRIL 2024

Animals like cows, oxen are called ruminant animals. They chew the semi digested food as a part of digestion. There will be four compartments in the stomach of these ruminant animals. It takes almost three days to digest the food completely. These animals will directly swallow the food they take. This food material will reach the first compartment, rumen and is softened here and also partially digested. This semi digested food will be taken back into mouth where they chew them till they are softened. This is called rumination. This softened food material now goes to the second compartment, called reticulum. There it undergoes filtration and reaches third compartment, omasum and gets digested. There after the remaining amount is totally digested in the fourth compartment, abomesum.