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What are the parts of an adult ruminant's stomach and their functions?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

The calf has several under developed structures in its stomach that will mature as it grows. What does a true adult ruminant stomach look like. What are the functions of each of the parts of the stomach?

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on October 8th, 2017

The adult ruminant stomach is a four chambered organ. The four chambers are the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. Food enters the rumen first, which stores and processes plant material. It then passes into the reticulum, which allows the animal to regurgitate and reprocess the plant material (i.e. chew its cud). The omasum provides further processing of the food, and sends it onto the abomasum. It's considered the "true stomach," and uses digestive enzymes to break down the bacteria in order to release nutrients.

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