Digestive systems of cows and rabbits

• Cows and rabbits are examples of herbivores.
• They feed on plants e.g. grass and leaves.
• Pant structures contain a large amount of cellulose which cannot be digested easily.
• Cellulose is a fibrous carbohydrate.
• Much of the food value is trapped inside plant cells by cellulose.
• Both cows and rabbits have special organs in their digestive systems that help with cellulose digestion.
• They rely on bacteria to help with their digestion process.
• Although humans have bacteria help in their alimentary canals,
• it is not to the same extent

The digestive system of a cow.

The digestive system of a cow. Image credit umn.edu

• A cow’s stomach has four sections.
• One of these is called the rumen.
• Cows are thus often referred to as rumens.
• A cow ingests grass which passes down the oesophagus into the rumen.
• Inside the rumen there is a lot of bacteria which digest the cellulose for the cow.
• This process of bacterial digestion is called bacterial fermentation.
• After the grass has been partly broken down by the bacteria,
• The cow passes the cud (food) back up into the mouth to be chewed again before being swallowed a second time.

A cow chewing cud. Image credit shutterstock.com

• When the food is swallowed for the second time it passes into other sections of the stomach,
• then into the rest of the digestive system.

Rabbits

Baby rabbit. Image credit funmozar.com

• In rabbits the caecum starts where the small and large intestines join.
• This is a large structure that contains a lot of bacteria to ferment the grass when it is eaten.

The digestive system of a rabbit. Image credit justrabbits.com

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