How many stomachs does a cow have, their names and functions, structure and location

Ruminants eat plant matter, which takes a long time to digest. Nature made sure that cattle received the maximum amount of nutrients from food, creating a special digestive system with a unique structure. In order to understand its functioning, you need to know how many stomachs a cow has.

Features of cow digestion

The gastrointestinal tract of a cow can be compared to a food processing factory.It has a special structure that allows it to gradually transform coarse grass and hay into easily digestible nutrients that support the vital activity and functions of the body. All ruminants have a specific gastrointestinal structure that distinguishes them from other farm animals. This is due to the fact that they have to digest a significant amount of food. Therefore, before being processed into the cow’s intestines, the eaten grass and other food moves through the oral cavity into the esophagus, and then into the stomach, which is located behind the diaphragm.

It is complex in a cow, consisting of four sections, and gastric juice is produced only in the abomasum, which is located at the farthest “end” of the multi-chamber system. This complex type of gastrointestinal tract ensures complete digestion of dry and rough plant foods.

How does the stomach of cattle work and how many sections does it have?

Cattle have one stomach, but it consists of four sections, each of which performs its own function.

Scar

The voluminous four-chamber stomach of a cow occupies most of the animal's abdominal cavity. Its first and largest section is the scar. In an adult cattle, its capacity is 80% of the total size of the stomach, reaching 100-200 liters. Its walls consist of the following layers:

1. Outer serous membrane.
2. The muscle wall is the middle layer.
3. The mucous membrane is the inner part of the organ.

The walls of a cow's rumen are elastic and can stretch in all directions to accommodate a large volume of food. Its anterior section communicates with the esophagus and the retina. In the rumen, fermentation of the food eaten occurs, on which symbiotic protists “work” - eukaryotes, which should not be confused with protozoa.They ferment cellulose with the help of intracellular bacteria that are in symbiosis with them.

Net

This part is the controlling element of the digestive system. The chewed food passes through it, and large parts are returned to the cow's rumen for subsequent grinding and fermentation.

The walls of the grid look like a pattern formed by 4-, 5-, and 6-gonal cells. They are created by folds of the mucous membrane that do not straighten and reach a height of 8-12 millimeters. The walls are covered by the cells lining the intestines, as well as numerous horny tubercles. There are no glands in this part of the stomach.

Book

The book continues the sequence of the chambers of the cow's stomach and is the third part of it. Its mucous membrane consists of movable folds located longitudinally. These are called leaves of the book and divide it into a number of narrow sections or chambers. The leaves have different heights. They are located along the entire inner surface of the book, except for its bottom.

The third chamber serves for the absorption of water and light fatty acids, which are formed during fermentation processes in the rumen. Also at this stage, magnesium penetrates through the walls.

Abomasum

It is the fourth and final part of the cow's four-chambered stomach. It is also called the glandular stomach because its insides are covered with numerous glands. They produce acidic gastric juice.

The abomasum is de facto an analogue of the simple single-chamber stomach that most mammals have. Connects to the book and duodenum.

Gastrointestinal diseases in cows

For a livestock breeder, any disease in his dairy, beef or replacement herd is a threat to the prosperity of the business. Eating disorders are a problem that can be avoided by proper selection of feed, keeping animals in comfortable conditions and starting treatment at the first signs of the disease.

To do this, you need to be able to recognize diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, know how they differ from each other and what measures need to be taken to prevent the problem from spreading to the entire herd.

Bloating

The stomach of a cow or bull occupies a large volume in the abdominal cavity. When it overflows with gases, there is a risk of squeezing the lungs, which can cause suffocation.

Causes of tympany:

1. Eating wet food (after rain or dew).
2. Watering livestock immediately after feeding succulent feed and fresh grass.
3. Large amounts of wet legume feed.
4. Feeding foods with signs of mold, fermentation, and frozen food.
5. Overeating of dairy products by calves: whey, buttermilk or skim milk.

The following methods are used to get rid of bloating:

1. Massaging the hungry pit on the stomach.
2. Extending the tongue in a given rhythm.
3. Using a rope in tar or creolin for bridling.
4. Giving laxative salts or specialized medications (only when prescribed by a veterinarian).
5. Probing and gastric lavage.
6. In severe and emergency cases, to save the cow, the veterinarian can puncture the scar with a special instrument - a trocar.

Preventive actions:

1. Graze livestock on pastures only after the dew has disappeared or the grass has dried out after precipitation.
2. Do not let very hungry cows out to graze.
3. Do not start grazing on leguminous plants - alfalfa or vetch.
4. Feed calves milk feed from a teat drinker.

Stop

This condition is also called atony of the forestomach, and people often say that the cow has a stomach. This indicates that the motility of the organ is impaired, the muscle walls do not contract, and the food does not move forward. Causes of the disease:

1. Eating large amounts of beets, stalks and stover from corn.
2. Hot or spoiled food.
3. Foreign object in food. If these are metal parts that damage the digestive system, the cow will go for meat.

Signs of the disease:

1. Appetite disturbances, refusal of food and water.
2. Violation of the chewing process.
3. Bloating.
4. Inactivity of the animal.

Treat rumen atony in a cow using the following methods:

1. Hunger for 24 hours.
2. Giving bran or hay in a minimal dose.
3. Laxatives.
4. Fermentation drugs.

Zaval

In ruminants, overfilling of the rumen and, less commonly, the rumen and abomasum, is simultaneously characterized by the following signs:

1. Stop chewing gum.
2. Decreased appetite.
3. Bloating, especially on the left.
4. Violation of excretory function.
5. Weakening of peristalsis.
6. Rapid breathing and heart rate.
7. Characteristic hunched posture.

Reasons for blockage formation:

1. In calves up to 60 days of life, blockage is caused by overeating concentrates and succulent feeds with an early decrease in milk volume.
2. Use of bulk foods with low nutritional value. This leads to stomach fullness, decreased motor function, and sometimes to paresis.

Getting rid of the blockage:

1. Fasting for 24 hours. At the same time, the cow is provided with clean drinking water and salt.
2. Massage the abdomen in the scar area for 20 minutes 3-4 times during the day.
3. The use of anti-fermentation drugs, laxatives and agents that enhance peristalsis.
4. Operation.
5. Culling a cow in a hopeless state.

Injury

The entry of a foreign body into the digestive system of a cow leads to the development of traumatic disorders. The severity of the condition depends on whether the object perforated the stomach wall or just penetrated into it.

Calves have the best developed abomasum, so switching to roughage too early or overeating can lead to stomach injury from large roughage pieces. But most often this condition occurs in pregnant cows and animals with high productivity.

Diagnosis is complicated by its similarity to other digestive problems in cattle. An acute condition usually occurs suddenly, while a chronic condition lasts for days or even weeks. The condition is treated depending on the problem.

If an animal has swallowed metal parts, they are removed using magnetic probes. In case of perforation, surgery will be required; if the stomach walls are injured, the animal is placed in a stall with the front part of the body raised, food is limited, switched to easily digestible feed, medications are given: painkillers that prevent putrefactive processes, laxatives, antibiotics, and so on as prescribed by the veterinarian. Digestive problems are easier to prevent than to treat, so prevention should be given maximum attention.