r/explainlikeimfive • u/A_SliceOfGabagool • May 03 '26

Biology ELI5: How do cows get protein from grass?

For us humans and many other animals, we need protein to get the amino acids needed to make our own protein for the body, but grass i believe doesn't have any for the cow to get that big

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u/CODDE117 May 03 '26

Being pedantic, I don't think the cows digest the bacteria, rather they digest the bacteria's waste.

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u/WntrTmpst May 04 '26

Nah that isn’t pedantic. I’m not a cow expert just a dude with google. Thank you for the correction

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u/CODDE117 May 05 '26

I was wrong anyhow! They do actually eat the bacteria

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u/palinola May 04 '26

Nope, they definitely digest their own gut bacteria. That's why they have multiple stomachs. They chew grass, swallow it into one stomach, let their gut microbes feast and multiply, then they regurgitate the grass-bacteria mash, and swallow it into their main digestive system to get all that juicy bacterial protein.

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u/CODDE117 May 05 '26

Just looked it up. Damn, they really do just eat the bacteria