Deer have a four-chambered stomach. ... The deer bring the food back up into their mouth and Page 2 chew it again. This process is called chewing their cud. It is also called ruminating, named after the rumen.

Is a whitetail deer a ruminant?

Deer digestion is 100% dependent on them. They help break down the food, and without them the deer cannot digest. Deer are ruminants, meaning that they bring their food back from the first part of their stomach, called the rumen, to chew it again.

Is a deer monogastric or ruminant?

True ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and antelope, have one stomach with four compartments: the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasums. The ruminant stomach occupies almost 75 percent of the abdominal cavity, filling nearly all of the left side and extending significantly into the right side.