Ruminants

Question 1

What are ruminants?

Answer 1

animals with a four chambered stomach

Question 2

What are the four chambers called?

Answer 2

rumen
reticulum
omasum
abomasum

Question 3

Is saliva different in ruminates than in other animals?

Answer 3

yes
it doesn’t contain any enzymes

Question 4

What happens to food in the rumen?

Answer 4

food sits in the rumen until it is sufficiently broken down

symbiotic bacteria present in the rumen produces the enzymes that breaks down complex carbohydrates

Question 5

What is the main source of energy in ruminants?

Answer 5

fats

Question 6

Where is fat absorbed into the bloodstream?

Answer 6

in the rumen and reticulum

Question 7

What do enzymes break cellulose down into?

Answer 7

volatile fatty acids

Question 8

What is a by-product of fermentation?

Answer 8

methane which is excreted through eructation

Question 9

What separates the rumen and reticulum?

Answer 9

a muscle fold

Question 10

Why does the reticulum have a filter?

Answer 10

stops larger particles from entering the omasum

Question 11

What happens to the larger particles that were unable to enter the omasum?

Answer 11

sent back to the rumen for further digestion and up the oesophagus into the mouth for further chewing

Question 12

What happens to the regurgitated food?

Answer 12

travels back down the oesophagus and into the rumen and reticulum and then into the omasum

Question 13

What happens in the omasum?

Answer 13

water from food is absorbed

Question 14

What happens in the abomasum?

Answer 14

hydrochloric acid and a range of enzymes are secreted
they allow fat, protein and carbohydrates to be extracted

Question 15

What are the functions of the liver?

Answer 15

produces bile

controls hormones that control enzyme secretions

storage site for various minerals and vitamins

Question 16

Do ruminants have upper incisors?

Answer 16

no

Question 17

How is protein digested?

Answer 17

digested in the rumen by microbes
yields amino acids from which ammonia and nitrogen are extracted
nitrogen provides growth for the microbes and so this process ensures there are enough microbes being produced
some microbes will pass through the digestive system and will be broken down in the abomasum and absorbed in the small intestine
the microbes themselves are a source of protein

alternative source of protein is via direct digestion in the abomasum