Cows are known to have four stomachs. With that in mind, we expect them to chew food really well. But it turns out, when they eat corn, cows also poop corn kernels — the same experience that we humans have.
This is somewhat surprising, since cows are ruminant animals whose digestive systems can break down tough materials better than ours can. When cows swallow their food, it softens in a special digestive chamber called a rumen and then gets sent back up for another round of mastication. (This also explains why it seems like cows are always munching on something.) But scientists have discovered that corn sometimes manages to emerge partially unscathed from this process of “chewing the cud.”
Not entirely unscathed, though. As University of Nebraska-Lincoln ruminant nutritionist Andrea Watson told Live Science, it’s only the thin yellow exterior of each kernel that escapes digestion. This is made of cellulose, a durable fiber that helps shield corn from bad weather, pests, and other potential damage. Humans can’t break down cellulose, but cows usually do a pretty good job—a testament to corn’s resilience.
What are your thoughts about this one?
(Image Credit: ulleo/ Pixabay)
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My father's aunt emigrated to the us in the thirties, I think. He farmed cows for meat and noticed yellow dots in their dirt and thought that this was food not digested. So he just bought pigs that ate the yellow stuff. Win-win.
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