natureatitsbest12's video: RUMINANTS - DEER ELK ETC

Ruminants include cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, elk, giraffes and camels. Instead of one stomach, they have four. Of the four compartments the rumen is the largest section and the main digestive centre.Deer survive on leaves, grass blades, and other plant parts. These parts are made of cellulose which is a molecule that cannot be digested. Deer have many adaptations that help them to digest this cellulose. These adaptations include special behaviors, specialized digestive system, and a symbiotic relationship with microorganisms. As deer begin to feed , they eat very fast. Depending on what and how much is available they can fill its stomach in about one or two hours. When they eat , food is chewed just enough to swallow. This is the first chewing. Deer have a four-chambered stomach. The first chamber, , is for storage. The rumen allows for the deer to gather a lot of food at once and then digest it later. The deer bring the food back up into their mouth and chew it again. This process is called chewing their cud or ruminating. The reticulum is the second stomach chamber. This is where the microorganisms live. The microorganisms attack the chewed food This process is called fermentation. This helps to break the cellulose down into simpler substances that can be absorbed by the deer and the microorganisms. Fermentation produces a (methane gas), which the deer must discharge very regularly. (They burp!) When deer chew their cud again, mixed in with the digested food are microorganisms. The deer chew the microorganisms and a lot of deer’s nutrition comes from them. There are plenty of microorganisms left in the reticulum. This time when it goes back down, the chewed food goes to the third chamber the omasum . This is where water is absorbed. Finally, the resulting cud enters the last chamber, (the abomasum), where gastric juices continue digestion. Last, it moves on to the intestines. This is where the food is absorbed by the animal’s body. This is where the animal receives the nutrients for his body. The deer’s intestines are 28 feet long! When the animal has absorbed everything it can use, everything that isn’t digested is passed off as waste droppings.