Question

Explain me the functions of the 4 chambers in ruminant's stomach?

Answer 1

A ruminant is an herbivorous animal that has a stomach with four compartments, which are tasked with acquiring nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it prior to digestion.

Ruminant stomachs have four compartments:

1. Rumen,
2. Reticulum
3. Omasum
4. Abomasum

Rumen microbes ferment feed and produce volatile fatty acids, which is the cow's main energy source. Rumen microbes also produce B vitamins, vitamin K and amino acids.

1. RUMEN: This is the first compartment of the cattle’s stomach and where fermentation occurs, which allows for the digestion of fiber and other feeds.​
2. RETICULUM: This compartment is attached to the rumen and has a honeycomb structure on its wall. The main function of this compartment is to trap large feed particles.
3. OMASUM: This compartment acts like a filter. The many folds of the omasum serve to squeeze out the water from the feed so that the majority of the water doesn’t ‘escape’ into the rest of the digestive tract and remains in the rumen.
4. ABOMASUM: The final compartment of the stomach is the abomasum. This compartment is similar to our stomachs and has a low pH and enzymes to digest the proteins in the feed. Microbial protein plus undigestible intake protein (e.g. by-pass protein) from the feed is broken down and these amino acids are absorbed by the animal in the small intestine.