This article looks at the various parts of the digestive system and explains the workings of the digestive tract in order to efficiently feed the ruminant. True ruminants include sheep, cattle and goats. The digestive tract is composed of the mouth, tongue, teeth, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines.
Many people say the ruminant has four stomachs.
In fact, a ruminant has only one stomach, but with four compartments. The stomach is divided into the reticulum, rumen, omasum and abomasum. A short description will be given to the more important parts of the digestive tract. Salivary glands are found in the mouth. They secrete saliva which has a pH of about 8.2.