Why Does a Cow Chewing When She isn't Eating? A cow has a special stomach with four parts. When she eats grass, she chews it just enough to make it wet. Then it goes into the first part of its stomach, where it becomes softer. From there it goes into the second part, where it is made into little balls called "cuds". Later, while the cow is resting, she brings up each cud one at a time and chews it well. When she swallows it, the food goes into the third part of her stomach. There the water squeezed out of it. Finally, the food goes to the fourth part of the cow's stomach and is broken down into very tiny pieces. Then the cow's body can take what it needs from the food to live and grow​