Ruminant livestock

Ruminant livestock are animals like cows, sheep, goats, and deer that have a specialized digestive system allowing them to efficiently process plant-based foods. They have a stomach divided into four compartments—rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum—that work together to break down fibrous plant materials through fermentation, primarily involving microbes. This process enables ruminants to extract nutrients from tough forage that many other animals cannot digest. They often chew cud, regurgitated food, to aid digestion. Ruminants are essential in agriculture for meat, milk, and fiber production due to their ability to convert grazing plants into valuable products.