Digestive Tract of Cow

1. Mouth
   • contains dental pad, teeth, tongue and saliva
   • saliva contains no salivary amylase

2. Esophagus
   • serves as passageway from mouth to stomach and from stomach to mouth

3. Rumen - large fermentation vat that houses microorganisms.

4. Reticulum
   1. "honeycomb"
   2. houses microorganisms
   3. catches hardware (ingested by animal)
   4. houses the opening to the omasum

5. Omasum
   1. "manyplies"
   2. full of folded tissue
   3. water absorption

6. Abomasum
   1. true stomach
   2. pepsin
      HCl

7. Small Intestine
   • enzymatic digestion and absorption
   • Functions of the small intestine: digestion of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; absorption of the end products of digestion
     1. duodenum
     2. jejunum
     3. ileum

   • Cecum - some microbial fermentation

   • Large Intestine
     • water absorption
     • waste storage

• ASC 106: Introduction to Animal Sciences - Gastrointestinal Tract - Ruminant.

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