Why do sheep have 4 stomachs?

Answer 1

Cows do not have four stomachs, but rather three forestomachs which are an extension of the esophagus and which are situated before the true stomach, the abomasum. However, for the kids' sake, simply stating that a cow actually has one very large stomach with four compartments or chambers, not four stomachs, should be enough to get things rolling before attempting to answer their question.

So why do cows have a stomach with four chambers? It's because what a cow eats is very different from what you or I eat. Cows eat grass all the time, and we do not, so it takes a very special digestive process to break down this type of plant. Grasses are coarse and tough to digest, which is why we don't eat grasses like cows and horses do. If you've ever chewed on a blade of grass before, you will know what I mean!

So, a cow needs several more steps to break down and digest the grass she eats than what we need to do to eat and digest our food.

She starts it off by chewing only enough grass that she can swallow it. Sometimes, if she finds some grass particularly tasty or easy to chew, she will simply swallow it whole!

The unchewed food travels down her esophagus into the first two chambers, called the rumen and the reticulum. The rumen can hold 50 gallons of partly digested food, and is not just a storage chamber: it actually holds a very large population of good bacteria which help the cow break down the food and provide extra protein for the cow. The reticulum (called the hardware stomach) is a chamber were objects like stones or wire get stored when a cow accidently eats them. They stay there where they won't hurt the cow when the rest of her food gets passed through the rest of her digestive system.

When she is full from eating, she will burp up a wad (or "bolus") of unchewed food to rechew it again while she is resting. What she is chewing is called cud. Her saliva, or spit, moistens the food and her back teeth break it down completely--just like you would chew your food--before swallowing and doing it all over again with another bolus of unchewed food.

The swallowed food moves into the last two chambers of her stomach, called the omasum and abomasum. The omasum acts like a filter where all the water gets taken out of the partly-digested food, and the abomasum acts exactly like our own stomach where the food goes through more digestion before it goes to the small intestine then the large intestine, then ends up as waste.

Answer 2

Four if you count the rumen. The rumen is the largest, and first compartment of the stomach. This is where the majot portion of the gas is created, and where the material comes from for the animal to produce the cud, and moisture absorption begins The second is the reticulum, where some moisture is taken out, and the fibers are beginning to break down. The 3rd compartment is the omasum, where, once agin, more moisture is removed, and more fiber break-down. The 4th, and final compartment is the abomasum, which is the true stomach, and complete absorption of nutrients begins. All 4 compartments are in one very large organ.

Answer 3

Goats are ruminants (similar to sheep and cattle) and as such have four stomachs - the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum and the abomasum.

Answer 4

technically, no they have one stomach with 4 chambers Just like cows and all other Ruminants

Answer 5

yes because they only have teeth on the lower jaw which means they cant digest it very well so it goes to one stomach and comes back up commonly referred to as chewing the cud.

Answer 6

Yes. Sheep are ruminants, and all ruminants have four stomachs.

Answer 7

They don't. They have one stomach that is divided into 4 parts. Each has it's own specific function.

Answer 8

Yes their stomach has four compartments - the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum.

Answer 9

To better digest cellulose.