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Cows – a fully grown female animal of a domesticated

breed that has given birth to at least one or two calves, kept
producing beef or milk.
Cows are raised for many purposes:
 Joints of meat (Veal is meat from younger animals
and is very lean)
 Dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurts, and
butter.
Where they Live; -
Cows are found on farms, grazing in the fields in the summer and indoors in the
winter. They prefer to have a space where they can spread out and eat plenty of
food.
Most cows spend the summer months in fields grazing on grass and indoors in
the winter when the grass has stopped growing

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Cow Eats
Dairy cows eat hay, Silage, and grain. Silage is fermented corn, wheat or hay

ly
with the stalks and leaves. Cows eat 50 pounds of silage as well as 40 pounds
of feed and hay each day, for a total of 90 pounds of food. Dairy cows also
drink 25-50 gallons of water each day.
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During the winter they will eat grass which has been preserved as silage. A
Cows diet is often supplemented with cereals such as barley or protein feeds
such as beans.

Cow Teeth
A cow has 32 teeth: three types of teeth: incisors, premolars, and molars. Cows
can’t bite because they don’t have top front teeth. They may “gum” you, but
they can’t bite you. Cows have molars on the upper and lower jaw, but their
incisors are only the lower jaw. A cow uses its teeth to chew grass many times
to help with digestion. Part of a cow's routine is to chew grass, swallow it, then
regurgitate it to chew it some more. This is known as chewing its cud.

Reproduction
The ovary is the primary female reproductive organ and has two important functions: producing the
female reproductive cell (the egg or ovum) and producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
The cow's two ovaries are oval to bean-shaped organs that are 1—1.5 inches long and located in the
abdominal cavity.
Cows are pregnant for around 9 months, the same as people
Cows usually give birth to one calf a year, though twins are also known to be
born. Newborn calves are fed colostrum for the first six hours of life. Colostrum
is produced by the calf’s mother after giving birth and it contains essential
antibodies, vitamins, and minerals to protect the calf during its life. It is very
important for calves to take in enough colostrum in the early stages of life as it
determines future health and performance for the calf.

Body structure
A newborn calf's size can vary among breeds, but a calf typically weighs 25 to 45
kg (55 to 99 lb. Adult size and weight vary significantly among breeds and sex.
Most cows have 5 to 8 calves in their life.
Eye Sight
Cattle are red/green color blind. In the sometimes-controversial sport of bull
fighting, bulls are angered by the movement of the cape rather than its red
color. Surprisingly, cows have nearly 360-degree vision, with the only blind spot
directly behind them. This is the reason why cows shift their head back and
forth when they walk – always checking to see what is to the rear

Digestive The organ from the digestive system – in this system, you might learn the anatomical facts
of digestive organs of a cow-like – tongue, esophagus, stomach, intestine, liver, pancreas, and more. 

cardiovascular system of a cow, you might learn the location, description of the heart, and clinically
essential vessels of a cow. 
Respiratory this system deals with the description of the lung and trachea of a cow.

Skeleton A cow’s skeletal system deals with the description of bones (both the axial and appendicular
skeletons).
!
Write down the parts of cow.

The 19 parts of the cow: cow, poll, muzzle, neck, forelegs, hind legs, hooves, eye, tail head, tail, switch,
udder, teats, barrel, brisket, pin bone, horns, rump, and back.
Dairy cattle are called ruminants because they have multiple compartments in
their stomach. Ruminant animals first chew their food to soften it, swallow it,
and then returned it to their mouth for continued chewing. This is called chewing
the cud. After chewing the cud, it is swallowed a second time, broken down
further, and digested. Cows will spend up to eight hours a day chewing their cud.
Cows have a four-compartment stomach. The four digestive compartments of a
cow’s stomach are the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum.
Dairy Breeds
There are over 800 different breeds of cattle in the
world. Only 6 of these breeds are characterized Dairy;-
Ayrshire
Brown Swiss
Holstein
Jersey
Guernsey
Milking Shorthorn
All of the major dairy breeds originated in Europe
1. Which breed is known for having exceptional feet and legs?
Brown Swiss

Which breed(s) can have roan haircoat coloring? Ayrshire and


Milking Shorthorn

Which breed is the most efficient? Jersey

Which breed has milk that is high in beta carotene? Guernsey

Which 2 breeds do you think are known as the Channel Island


Breeds? Jersey and Guernsey

Which breed produces the largest volume of milk? Holstein

Guernsey milk is “golden” in color due to


the high protein and fat components and
also because of a high concentration of
beta-carotene.
Beta-carotene is also the pigment that
gives carrots their orange color. The body
converts this substance to Vitamin A,
which is important for healthy eyes,
immune system, skin, and mucous
membranes.

Brown Swiss
Brown Swiss are known for having very good
feet and legs. Sound feet and legs were a
must for the beginnings of the breed in
Switzerland grazing the mountain slopes.
Originally known as a dual-purpose breed
utilized for meat and milk.
Brown Swiss have the longest gestation
period of the dairy breeds- 287 days.
This is 7 days longer than the average
gestation of 280 days.

Holstein
Holstein calves weigh an average
of 90# at birth.
The most popular dairy breed and make up
90% of the US dairy population.
The World Record holder for
milk production is a Holstein;
Selz-Pralle Aftershock 3918
produced 78,170 of milk in
one lactation in 2017.
The Holstein breed is known for high milk
production, but has less butterfat and protein
based on percentage in the milk, compared
other breeds.
Jersey
Jerseys are the most efficient of the dairy
breeds. They produce more milk per pound of
body weight that any other breed.
They are also know for high fertility rate and
low dystocia rate (calving difficulty) but have
a high rate of hypocalcemia (milk fever).
Milk Fever is a disorder that occurs following
the cow giving birth when milk production
exceeds the cows ability to mobilize calcium.

Ayrshire
Ayrshire were once known for their horns. If
properly trained, they would gracefully curve out
and could grow up to 2 feet or more in span.
Horns are not practical now and can
unintentionally cause injury to other cattle and
people, so cattle born with horns are dehorned at
a young age.
Another distinct characteristic of Ayrshire cattle is
the possibility of a brindle or a roan hair coat.
Brindle is a coat coloring pattern in animals that is
sometimes described as "tiger-striped“. The
streaks of color are irregular and darker than the
base color of the coat, although very dark
markings can be seen on a coat that is only
slightly lighter.

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