This will be a series of posts that will discuss some basic information about beef cattle production that would apply to anyone raising beef. The first post in the series will focus on the ruminant digestive system. The unique digestive system of cattle allows them to digest feeds other livestock cannot, however it is also responsible for reduced feed efficiency compared to other livestock species such as poultry or swine. In order to understand how we may improve feed efficiency and reduce feed costs, it is important to understand how the digestive system works.
The common misconception is cattle have four stomachs, when the truth is it has one stomach with four compartments. Why do ruminants have four compartments? This type of digestive system allows cattle digest forages as their primary food sources, unlike us which only have a limited capacity to digest forages in our colon.