Can a Cow have 4 Stomach-aches at once?

Summary

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Who Smarted? — “Can a Cow Have 4 Stomach-Aches at Once?”

Released: January 19, 2026
Podcast for Kids by Atomic Entertainment / Starglow Media

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the "Who Smarted?" crew takes listeners on a wild, imaginative ride—literally—by shrinking down and journeying through the inside of a cow to explore its unique digestive system. With the help of Farmer Philomena and a surprise reporter guest, Chet Nickerson, the team dives into the science of the cow’s four-chambered stomach, answering quirky questions and busting fun cow facts along the way. It’s a blend of humor and STEM knowledge designed to educate and entertain.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing the Adventure: Why the Inside of a Cow?

• The trusty narrator announces an adventure inside a cow to explore what makes a ruminant stomach special.
  • “There’s a very specific and scientific reason we’re headed inside of a cow, and it has to do with something only cows and a small handful of animals have inside their bodies that all the other animals don’t… It’s something called a ruminant stomach.” [03:18]
• Farmer Philomena joins as the farm expert to guide the journey.
• Chet Nickerson, the quirky reporter, decides to join the shrunken group on their stomach safari.
• The adventure is set up as both silly (“Gross but fascinating, but gross!” [06:19]) and deeply informative.

2. What Is a Ruminant Stomach?

• Explains ruminant animals (like cows, sheep, goats, giraffes) can’t digest food whole—they need to chew, swallow, regurgitate, and rechew (the process called “chewing cud”).
• “Cows and a few other mammals... literally have to bring [food] back up again from their stomach in order to break it down further.” [05:32]
• All the fun leads to the central question: Can a cow have four stomach-aches at once? (the answer being related to its four compartments.)

3. The Anatomy of the Cow’s Stomach

Four Compartments, Four Functions

• Question Posed: How many compartments does a cow’s stomach have? (Answer: Four) [05:10]
• The Four Chambers:
  • Rumen: Largest compartment—a fermentation vat where microbes break down fibrous plant matter. Holds 25+ gallons.
    • “The rumen is pretty much a giant storage tank. It’s the largest of the four compartments of a cow’s stomach.” [10:14]
  • Reticulum: Has a honeycomb structure, collects heavier objects and filters undigestible bits.
    • “The reticulum pretty much captures large objects, filtering out things like pebbles, nails, wire...” [11:12]
  • Omasum: Contains layered folds (looks like a book); absorbs water and nutrients.
    • “The omasum is made up of layers of tissue that resemble pages in a book. Its main function is to absorb water and other substances…” [14:23]
  • Abomasum: The “true stomach,” similar to humans', where acid and enzymes finish digestion.
    • “This last chamber…the Abomasum, is what’s commonly known as the true stomach. It’s the only compartment made up of layered glands.” [15:12]

4. Digestive Process and Fun Cow Facts

• Saliva: Cows produce over 50 quarts (47.3 liters) of saliva every day to help with digestion.
  • “A cow’s salivary glands can produce over 50 quarts of saliva every day…” [08:27]
• Bidirectional Esophagus: Food goes down and cud comes back up (“bidirectional esophagus”).
• Regurgitation: Cows “chew their cud” by regurgitating and rechewing food.
  • “They need to regurgitate or bring their food back up in order to re-chew it…” [09:30]
• Microbial Helpers: Millions of tiny organisms in the rumen help break down difficult foods.
• Gas Production: Ruminant digestion creates around 50 quarts of gas per hour (methane and CO2), leading to lots of belches!
  • “Digestion produces nearly 50 quarts, or 47 liters of gas per hour in the rumen. Carbon dioxide and methane being the two main gases.” [14:57]
• Cow Output:
  • Urine: About 8 gallons (30 liters) per day
  • Poop: Approximately 100 pounds per day
    • “About 8 gallons. That’s 30 liters of urine and approximately 100 pounds of poop.” [16:09]
• Connection to Humans: Abomasum is “the only one that closely resembles our own one chamber stomach.” [15:37]

5. Highlighting Humor and Engagement

• Frequent jokes and puns keep the tone lively (“Move or moove?” [06:32]; “Holy cow, that really shook this place.” [14:54]).
• Chet Nickerson’s color-commentary report brings in journalistic humor.
• The team rides along the “Saliva River” and encounters “cud balls” and “belching earthquakes” inside the cow.
• Kid-friendly grossness is embraced: “Gross but fascinating, but gross.” [06:19]
• Engagement springs from direct questions (“What do you think, smarty pants?”) and listener challenges.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Regurgitation:
  “I’m sorry, wait, are you saying that cows chew food, Swallow it, it goes into their stomach, and then they regurgitate it. AKA throw it up. And then chew it more and swallow it again.”
  — Smarty Pants [05:58]

• On Gas Production:
  “Digestion produces nearly 50 quarts, or 47 liters of gas per hour in the rumen. Carbon dioxide and methane being the two main gases.”
  — Farmer Philomena [14:57]

• Reporter’s Perspective:
  “I can’t believe I’m actually reporting live from the inside of a cow. When you work in this business as long as I have, anything is possible.”
  — Chet Nickerson [08:42]

• Describing the Omasum:
  “The omasum is made up of layers of tissue that resemble pages in a book. Its main function is to absorb water and other substances that are passing through the digestive tract.”
  — Farmer Philomena [14:23]

• The Big Digestive Output:
  “About 8 gallons. That’s 30 liters of urine and approximately 100 pounds of poop.”
  — Farmer Philomena [16:09]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:18] — Why we’re going inside a cow; introduction to ruminant stomachs
• [05:10] — “How many compartments does a cow’s stomach have?” (The answer is four)
• [07:51] — The crew gets “eaten” by the cow, starting the journey
• [08:27] — Fun fact: Cows produce 50 quarts of saliva a day
• [10:01] — Entering the Rumen (largest chamber/storage tank)
• [11:05] — Arriving at the Reticulum (“honeycomb” compartment)
• [12:13] — Entering the Omasum (“pages in a book,” absorbs water)
• [14:23] — Omasum further explained, leading to Abomasum
• [15:12] — Abomasum, the “true stomach” and similarities to humans
• [16:09] — Impressive daily cow output: poop and pee stats
• [16:23] — The team returns to normal size (and Chet gets his microphone back!)

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Conclusion

This episode offers a delightfully gooey, fact-filled journey through a cow’s unique digestive track, answering big kid questions (“Can a cow have four stomach-aches at once?”), dropping surprising statistics (50 quarts of cow gas an hour!), and connecting animal science to silly curiosity. With jokes, questions for listeners, and play-by-play reporting, it’s a stellar example of why “Who Smarted?” is beloved by both kids and adults as an engaging, memorable educational resource.

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Transcript

[Trusty Narrator]

Hey, smartypants, trusty narrator here. Do you love music as much as I do, but find learning how to play it a little confusing? I sure did. When I was a kid taking piano lessons, music sometimes felt like a mystery.

[Smarty Pants]

I could press the keys, but I.

[Trusty Narrator]

Didn'T always understand why it worked and that made it hard to learn. That's why I love what my friend Will has created. Music With Will is a live online music program for musically curious kids aged 7 to 12. Instead of just copying songs, kids discover how music actually works in a playful, creative aha moment kind of way. Will was home educated himself and music felt like a black box to him growing up. After nearly 20 years of teaching, he built the program he wishes he'd had, using ear first learning with singing, listening and pattern spotting. No musical background needed at all. There's two live 60 minute lessons every month, recordings you can access anytime, and tons of flexibility. Parents and kids are loving how this is unlocking musical potential. And to get you started, Will is offering the smarty fans 10% off the already very low monthly price. And you even get a 14 day free trial so you can see how awesome it is before you pay a thing. I can tell you there is no better deal for awesome kid centric music lessons and anywhere. Check it [e-mail] WhoSmarted that's musicwithwill.com WhoSmarted.

[Smarty Pants]

And now it's time for who Smarted?

[Trusty Narrator]

Psst.

[Smarty Pants]

Hey, smarty pants. Trusty narrator here. Kind of a silly question, but how much do you like going on rides like the ones at an amusement park or carnival? How about riding a boogie board at a water park or in the ocean?

[Trusty Narrator]

Me too.

[Smarty Pants]

It's so much fun. Well, what if I told you we're going on a wild ride today that I can guarantee you've never been on before? How can I be so sure? Because today we'll be taking a trip inside a farm animal. Oh, I get it. The crickets is everyone's confused collective silence. As you wonder, did I hear Trusty correctly? Oh, you definitely did. Or you may be wondering, why a farm animal? What farm animal? Trusty? How is this even possible? A narrator and an army of smarty pants can't fit inside your standard farm animal. Well, last question first. Thanks to my shrink app and the magic of podcasting, we can easily fit tiny versions of our ourselves into a farm animal. Next, which farm animal? There's so many to choose from, but the one we're choosing sounds like this. Yep, a cow. We're gonna shrink ourselves down and take a ride downtown into cowtown. Ah, now you're asking why. Excellent question. There's a very specific and scientific reason we're headed inside of a cow, and it has to do with something only cows and a small handful of animals have inside their bodies that all the other animals don't. Any guesses? It's something called a ruminant stomach. And if you got that right, smarty pants, you should probably be hosting this show. And I should be in the car or my bed listening. Anyway, rather than me trying to explain what a ruminant stomach is, I asked my farmer friend Philomena to help us out on our journey.

[Farmer Philomena]

Howdy, trustee. I'm honored to have you and all the smarty pants here at my family's dairy farm today. You never did tell me exactly what you were thinking of doing, though. Just that it involved a cow.

[Trusty Narrator]

Right.

[Smarty Pants]

Well, first of all, thanks for having us. I couldn't think of a better place for us to learn the ins and outs. But mostly ins, most of a cow's unique digestive system.

[Farmer Philomena]

Oh, you mean it's ruminant stomach.

[Smarty Pants]

Exactly. And I thought it would be fun to shrink ourselves down and travel inside a cow to find out things like how many compartments does a cow's stomach have? What's the purpose of each one? What role does saliva play in a cow's digestive process? And of course, the most important question of all, how much pee, poo and farts does a cow release in a day?

[Farmer Philomena]

Great questions. I can answer them. Wait, did you say shrink ourselves down and go inside a cow?

[Chet Nickerson]

Who's smarted? Who's smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun, but who's smart and.

[Smarty Pants]

All right, smarty pants, before we shrink ourselves down and go downtown into cow town, let's first plan our route through this cow's tummy. And that means knowing how many compartments a cow's stomach actually has. What do you think, smarty pants? Is it one, two, three or four compartments? The answer is four.

[Farmer Philomena]

Fun fact cows and a few other mammals lack. Sheep, goats, and giraffes can't digest their food whole. They need to chew their food multiple times, which means they literally have to bring it back up again from their stomach in order to break it down further to absorb the nutrients and gain energy.

[Smarty Pants]

I'm sorry, wait, are you saying that cows chew food, Swallow it, it goes into their stomach, and then they regurgitate it. AKA throw it up. And then chew it more and swallow it again.

[Farmer Philomena]

That's what I'm saying.

[Smarty Pants]

Gross but fascinating. But gross. Wait, is that what's going to happen to us?

[Farmer Philomena]

Yep.

[Smarty Pants]

Gross but fascinating, but gross.

[Farmer Philomena]

Once we're inside, I'll explain what each of the four stomach compartments is called and what its function is as we move through the cow's digestive tract.

[Smarty Pants]

Move or moove?

[Trusty Narrator]

What?

[Smarty Pants]

That was a little cow humor. Never mind. Let's get shrinking on 1, 2 and. Hey, who could that be driving up?

[Chet Nickerson]

This is Chet Nickerson reporting live from Philomena's family farm where trusty narrator and farmer Phil are about to make history as the first place people to shrink themselves down and enter a cow's digestive tract.

[Trusty Narrator]

Wow.

[Smarty Pants]

How did you find out about this, Chet?

[Chet Nickerson]

Ah, reporter never gives up his sources. Alright, fine. The cow told me, right?

[Smarty Pants]

Okay, we've got our cow.

[Trusty Narrator]

And our.

[Smarty Pants]

Tractor that we'll also shrink down and use to travel through the Cowan. Looks like we're all set.

[Chet Nickerson]

This is it. The big moment.

[Smarty Pants]

You know, Chet, you could just report on our trip, or you could shrink down too and come with us on our journey.

[Chet Nickerson]

Ah, yes. I will truly get the inside scoop. I'm in.

[Smarty Pants]

Okay, smarty pants, on the count of three, we're gonna get small. One, two, three.

[Chet Nickerson]

Hmm. To this reporter's eyes, it seems to be very green inside this cow.

[Farmer Philomena]

No, no, we're not inside yet. We're nestled in some grass waiting for it to hold on tight.

[Smarty Pants]

Everyone, we've just been eaten.

[Farmer Philomena]

Indeed we have. And now we're riding the rapids on the Saliva River. Trusty, do you know how much saliva saliva a cow's salivary glands produce every day?

[Smarty Pants]

I can't say I do, smartypants. What do you think? Is it 10 quarts, 30 quarts or 50 quarts?

[Farmer Philomena]

Believe it or not, a cow's salivary glands can produce over 50 quarts or 47.3 liters of saliva every day to aid in the digestive process. How you doing, Chet? Great.

[Chet Nickerson]

I can't believe I'm actually reporting live from the inside of a cow. When you work in this business, as long as I have, anything is possible.

[Farmer Philomena]

Okay, everyone, first up is the esophagus.

[Smarty Pants]

If I remember correctly, the esophagus is like a long playground slide inside a tunnel.

[Farmer Philomena]

That's right. Here we go. The esophagus is a canal that connects the throat to the stomach. And in this case, question.

[Chet Nickerson]

Why is everything headed upstream in the opposite direction that we're going.

[Farmer Philomena]

Well, like I said earlier, cows are herbivore ruminants and their esophagus is bidirectional.

[Chet Nickerson]

Um, herbivore, meaning they eat plant based foods. But what's that other word mean?

[Farmer Philomena]

It means they need to regurgitate or bring their food back up in order to re chew it. So that's why things around us are moving in both directions.

[Chet Nickerson]

I see. As a reporter, I try to remain impartial to every story, but that's pretty gross. But fascinating. But gross.

[Smarty Pants]

That's what I said. Okay, it feels like we're coming to the end of the line.

[Farmer Philomena]

Yes. First stop coming up on this four chamber stomach ride is the rumen.

[Chet Nickerson]

It's pretty cavernous in here. Echo. Echo. Echo. Echo.

[Trusty Narrator]

Oh boy.

[Smarty Pants]

Looks like we're about to get tossed around a bit.

[Chet Nickerson]

That's not the only thing that might get tossed.

[Farmer Philomena]

The rumen is pretty much a giant storage tank. It's the largest of the four compartments of a cow's stomach.

[Smarty Pants]

Smarty pants, how many gallons of food do you think could fit in a cow's rumen? Is it A, 5 gallons of food, B, 10 gallons of food or C 25 gallons or more?

[Farmer Philomena]

If you said C 25 gallons or more, you're right, Farmer Phil.

[Smarty Pants]

What are those ball shaped objects rolling around?

[Farmer Philomena]

That's what we call cud. They're large pieces of plant matter that can't be digested just yet. You can't really see them, but there are millions of tiny microorganisms all around us breaking down the nutrients from the food as the cud is forming balls. Hold on. We're off to the next stop, the reticulum.

[Chet Nickerson]

According to this reporter, I'd say the walls look like honeycombs.

[Smarty Pants]

What happens in here, Phil?

[Farmer Philomena]

The reticulum pretty much captures large objects filtering out things like pebbles, nails, wire, and other sharp objects that might have accidentally been eaten while grazing. It's important these things don't get digested as they might puncture the cow's stomach lining, which could cause serious infection or worse.

[Chet Nickerson]

You know, I once accidentally swallowed a penny when I was a kid. At first my parents couldn't make heads or tails. Why? I didn't feel well.

[Smarty Pants]

Oh, chat. Hey, I noticed things just got a lot tighter. Much smaller than the reticulum where we just came from.

[Farmer Philomena]

Indeed. This pouch like compartment can only accommodate about 5 gallons or 4.7 liters of the material.

[Chet Nickerson]

Is it just me or did this cow just swallow a bass drum?

[Farmer Philomena]

That's actually the cow's heart chit. It's just on the other side of that wall.

[Smarty Pants]

Hang on, we're starting to move again.

[Farmer Philomena]

Yup, now we're moving on to the third chamber called the Omasum.

[Chet Nickerson]

Dare I ask what happens in here? Also, how do we get out of here?

[Smarty Pants]

We're about to find out. Right after this quick break.

[Snoop]

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[Trusty Narrator]

As the trusty narrator, I've taken the smarty pants on countless adventures. I'll do anything for the fans, but off mic, I prefer to keep my adventures in the safe space of my own backyard. However, even a homebody like me can't avoid the unexpected chaos that comes with family life. Take last week, for example. My niece was staying with me when.

[Smarty Pants]

She came down with a nasty cold.

[Trusty Narrator]

In the middle of the night. I couldn't leave her alone to get medicine. And that's when I remembered Doordash is there for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. With a few taps on my phone, I had cough syrup and tissues delivered right to my door. Doordash saved the night, and my niece was back to her energetic self in no time. Oh, and did I order a little ice cream for myself.

[Smarty Pants]

Yes, I did.

[Trusty Narrator]

And Doordash brought it right to my door. So while I may not be the biggest fan of real life adventures, I'm grateful that Doordash is always there to help me navigate life's little emergencies. When life happens, get a little order delivered with Doordash order now.

[Smarty Pants]

Now back to who's smarted? As we continue to make our way through the four chambers of a cow's stomach, we've just entered the third chamber called the omassum.

[Chet Nickerson]

Huh, Kinda looks like a library in here.

[Farmer Philomena]

Excellent observation, Chip. The omasum is made up of layers of tissue that resemble pages in a book. Its main function is to absorb water and other substances that are passing through the digestive tract. Hold on, folks. The last of the four stomach compartments is coming up and it's called the abomasum.

[Chet Nickerson]

Whoa.

[Smarty Pants]

What was that, smarty pants? Any guesses what that noise was. If you said a belch, er, burp, you're right.

[Chet Nickerson]

Holy cow, that really shook this place.

[Farmer Philomena]

Oh yeah. Digestion produces nearly 50 quarts, or 47 liters of gas per hour in the rumen. Carbon dioxide and methane being the two main gases.

[Smarty Pants]

Sounds like me on Taco Tuesday.

[Farmer Philomena]

This last chamber, the Abomasum, is what's commonly known as the true stomach. It's the only compartment made up of layered glands. The glands release hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes which further break down the food material that's passing through.

[Smarty Pants]

Sort of like what happens in humans.

[Farmer Philomena]

Yes, trusty. This compartment is the only one that closely resembles our own one chamber stomach.

[Trusty Narrator]

Wow.

[Smarty Pants]

And there you have it.

[Chet Nickerson]

We do? Yes, we do. And I still haven't heard how we're getting out of here.

[Farmer Philomena]

The rest of this ride becomes similar to exiting a human as we navigate the small and large intestines before exiting out the anus.

[Chet Nickerson]

Ah, speaking of, how much poop does a cow produce each day after all of this non stop eating and digestion?

[Farmer Philomena]

Quite a bit chit, about 8 gallons. That's 30 liters of urine and approximately 100 pounds of poop.

[Chet Nickerson]

Not counting us, trustee. I see daylight ahead.

[Smarty Pants]

Activating reverse shrinking in 3, 3, 2, 1. Ah, we made it.

[Chet Nickerson]

Yes.

[Smarty Pants]

Great stuff, Farmer Phil. We all learned a lot.

[Farmer Philomena]

My pleasure, trusty. What a ride.

[Smarty Pants]

What's wrong with Bessie?

[Chet Nickerson]

Um, has anyone seen my microphone?

[Farmer Philomena]

Chat.

[Chet Nickerson]

Ah, there it is. Farmer Phil, may I borrow your hose?

[Smarty Pants]

A double dose of shout out to Bennett and Hudson in the Woodlands, Texas. I hear every night is a who's.

[Trusty Narrator]

Smarted night at your house.

[Smarty Pants]

We love that. And the family conversations that come from the episodes. That's the smartest thing I've heard all day. This episode, Cow Stomachs was written by Farmer Dave Davis and voiced by Heather Simse, Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn. Who's Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.

[Chet Nickerson]

Who's Smarted.