Why is a cows food regurgitated?

Answer 1

Cows don't "regurgitate" their cud, they burp or belch it up. Since most of the feed they initially eat was eaten in a hurry, belching up a mass of partially digested food to chew it into smaller pieces helps in proper digestion and utilization of nutrients and minerals that is contained in the feed. Burping helps aleviate gases that are always building up in the rumen when microbes in the rumen release gases as they digest the feed. If these gases cannot be released, bloating ensues and if not treated immediately, the cow will die. A cow that cannot belch up her cud will certainly not last long; a cow that cannot belch up her cud is essentially a cow that either has bloat or her rumen has stopped contracting and either cases must be treated by a veterinarian or have the animal put down.

Most of the cases that involves the rumen not contracting involves having the cow put down since a rumen that is not contracting either means the nerves responsible for ruminal contractions are damaged far beyond repair or the animal itself is too far gone to be helped.

Bloat, if not too far gone, can be treated by having the animal walk or run it off if the case is mild, by tubing it with a plastic tube put down its esophagus and draining detergent or mineral oil into the rumen, or for more severe cases, use of a trocar to quickly expell the gases directly from the rumen by piercing the rumen wall. The latter is more of a last resort to aleviate bloat, as using a trocar has risk of the rumen wall developing infection if not cleaned and sewn back up after all excess gases have been released. The prefered methods of treating bloat is chasing the animal or tubing it, or better yet, preventative methods such as feeding a bloat-prevention block of mineral, letting your cows graze high protein-quality feeds when they are not hungry, having roughage available for the cows to eat as a way to help digestion, etc.

All cows or ruminants a like should be able to belch up their cud in order to have a healthy digestion system and gastro-intestinal tract. If not, then they will die if not treated right away.

Answer 2

Cows ruminate to help the bacteria in their rumen (first stomach compartment) better digest the plant fibers. After the cow swallows a mouthful of food, the grass or hay goes into the rumen where bacteria and protozoa start to break it down. After a while, the cow will regurgitate the food, chew it again to break the plant material down into smaller pieces and then reswallow it so the bacteria and protozoa can digest more of it.

This allows the cow to be more efficient with their food intake.

Answer 3

Cows have four stomachs to break down their food.

Answer 4

sometimes if there feelin up to it