**10. Esophagus**

After the pharynx, which is the common cavity for ingested material and the air to pass, a long tube called esophagus is present in the goats. This hollow muscular tube connects the stomach to pharynx. The esophagus in goats passes over the dorsal border of the liver and enters the stomach at the cardia. The cardiac opening in the stomach is opposite to the middle of the eighth intercostal space; it is just to the left of the median plane and about two to three inches below the vertebral column. It opens into stomach at the junction of rumen and reticulum. In kids, the esophagus travels to form an esophageal groove, which serves as a bypass to transfer milk directly into abomasum. In goats, the esophagus consists of majority of the striated muscles. The esophagus has a stratified squamous epithelium lining the hollow organ. It has mucosal folds present for distension. The lamina propria and submucosa have connective tissue (CT) fibers and at the area of the junction with the stomach smooth muscles are arranged in a circular pattern in the inner layer and outer longitudinal within the tunica muscularis [15, 52].
