As many people think that a cow has for stomachs this is actually a common misconception that people have. Cows in fact have one very large stomachs made up of four separate chambers. these four chambers are the , rumen, reticulum, omasum, and the abomasum.In order to start the process of digestion, the cow first chews the grass in its mouth for a long time because grass is a very difficult plant to break down especially in large amounts so the grass has to be chewed for a long time. Enzymes in the mouth break down the grass a little, but the natural tendencies of grass to be tough does not allow this to be enough. The cow then swallows the food and it goes down it's esophagus. The esophagus plays a huge part in hte digestive system because it is needed a lot for regurgitation of cud which is a later stage in the digestive system. So after the grass has passed through the esophagus for the first time, it goes into the stomach. In the first chamber of the stomach, the rumen grass is fermented. The rumen is the largest chamber in the stomach and it has to be because fermentation needs space because gasses are released. this fermentation is needed to break down the grass further. the next chamber is the reticulum. The same thing happens here. The grass is fermented further so that the food is ready to be digested in the abomasum. But before it can go to the next chamber, the food is regurgitated by the cow and it comes up as cud. This cud is high in energy and gives cows energy to produce milk after they have had their calf. As aforementioned, the grass is so thick that it is needed to be chewed again and it also has to go through the first two chambers of the stomach again. After the reticulum, the food goes to the omasum. Here, little water and nutrients are absorbed and go into the blood stream. then it travels to the abomasum. This is better known at the true stomach because this is where the grass is finally digested with enzymes. These enzymes digest the protein. the rest is excreted out of the anus and the process is over. Below is a slideshow that shows visual examples of a cow's digestive system, how the rumen is mapped out, and a picture of a cow chewing its cud.