The cow belongs to the herbivores. She pulls the grass off the ground with her tongue and grinds it between the lower teeth and the jaws. The cow is a ruminant and swallows the grass almost without chewing. A cow has four stomachs. When the first stomach, the rumen, is full, the grass comes back into the mouth and the cow chews it finely. After this it is swallowed again. In the rumen, the food is fermented by micro-organisms. The second stomach, the reticulum, ensures that the fermented food flows through to the book stomach. In this third stomach, the liquid is removed from the digested food. Finally, the fourth stomach, the abomasum. This stomach most resembles the stomach of non-ruminant mammals. Here the food is digested and passed on to the small intestine. In the intestine, the digestion continues and the released nutrients are absorbed into the blood via the intestinal wall. Via the blood the nutrients are transported to the place where they are needed.
De wereld door mijn ogen .. Read more…