KrazyKirstyB: Interesting Facts about Cows

Facts about Cows:

1) Female cattle are called cows

Male cattle are called bulls.

2) Cows are red-green colour blind. In a bullfight, it's the waving of the cape that attracts the bull not the red colour. Every year, more than 40,000 animals are massacred in Spain’s bullrings, as part of a barbaric tradition that has no place in the modern world and is simply disgusting!!

3) The average natural lifespan for a cow could be as long as 25 years. If it is a dairy cow, after 4 or 5 years the cow is so worn out from constantly being pregnant or lactating. A dairy-industry study found that by the time they are killed, nearly 50 percent of cows are lame because of standing on concrete flooring and filth in intensive confinement. Cows’ bodies are often turned into soup, food for dogs and cats, or ground beef because they are too “spent” to be used for anything else.

4) In the 1800s, each cow produced an average 1000 litres of milk annually.

In many countries around the world today, the average annual milk yield is over 10,000 litres per cow.

Sperm collection. Then what is collected will be used to manually rape the cows to impregnate them.

Artificial insemination, milking regimens, and sometimes drugs are used to force them to produce even more milk.

Normally, these animals would produce only enough milk to meet the needs of their calves, but genetic manipulation—and, in some cases, antibiotics and hormones—is used to cause each cow to produce more than 20,000 pounds of milk each year.Cows are also fed unnatural, high-protein diets—which include dead chickens, pigs, and other animals—because their natural diet of grass would not provide the nutrients that they need to produce such massive amounts of milk.

There are about 350 udder squirts in a gallon (8 pints) of milk.

5)Cows are pregnant for 9 months just like women are. A normal dairy cow usually has only 1 baby at a time, cows rarely have triplets or twins.

6) It is important for the calf to receive the mother’s first milk (known as colostrum which is what us mothers make when we have a baby as well) this gives nutrition and contains immunoglobulins to give the calf protection as its immune system is still maturing. - The farmer normally separates the calf from the cow within the first few days, pretty much as soon as he notices that the cow has given birth he will take the calf away from it's mother, so that the cow can be milked for human consumption.

Because cows form such strong bonds with their loved ones, it is only natural that they show signs of grief when separated from them. When a calf is taken away, the mother will cry and bellow for hours, even days, and fall into a deep depression. Mother cows will search for their babies, visibly distressed, just as the calves cry for their mother.

Both the calf and mother will make loud calls trying to locate each other after they are separated. I have seen videos of cows crying after her baby has been taken from her and cows chasing the farmer as he drives away with her baby in the back of the truck.

7) Cows typically give birth for the first time at about 2 – 3 years old.

Calves are able to stand almost immediately after being born.

However, if the cow is on a dairy farm, they are artificially inseminated shortly after their first birthdays. After giving birth, they lactate for 10 months and are then inseminated again, continuing the cycle. Some spend their entire lives standing on concrete floors; others are confined to massive, crowded lots, where they are forced to live amid their own faeces.

Around 60% of calves in the UK are reared in individual pens, for the first 8 weeks of life. This means they have very limited access to social companions, only able to interact with neighbouring calves through the sides of the pen.

8) A dairy cow that is milking consumes around 100 pounds of feed and drinks 30 to 50 gallons of water each day

For years, PETA has been saying that if everyone went vegan—and we stopped feeding so many nutritious grains to farmed animals instead of to humans—world hunger would virtually disappear.

It takes about 13 pounds of grain to produce a single pound of meat. All that grain would go a long way toward feeding the hundreds of millions of people—many of them children—who don’t have enough to eat. In fact, malnutrition currently affects about 870 million people worldwide and accounts for the deaths of more than 2.5 million children under the age of 5 alone every year.

9) Hindu nations believe that cows are holy and there are strict laws to protect them. The toughest come from the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where anyone convicted of killing a cow or taking it somewhere to be killed can be jailed for up to seven years. If only all nations cared for animals that much!!

10) Cows are social animals, and they naturally form large herds. And like people, they will make friends and bond to some herd members, while avoiding others . Cows have favourite friends and become stressed when they are separated.

Best friends <3

11) Cattle have almost 300 degrees of vision, with blind spots only right in front of and behind them. I have also read that Cows have almost total 360-degree panoramic vision. I have sat face to face with a cow whilst I stroked her cheeks and she was looking right into my eyes so I don't believe they have a blind spot right in front of them.

And if they like you they will lick you a lot like a cat or dog does =D and their tongues are usually dark and really long!! When I was stroking her I was smiling and she licked my teeth lol

She was licking me all over and the cow on my I Love Vegans bag lol =D

12) Cattle have one stomach but it is divided into four compartments, the Rumen, Reticulum, Omasum, and Abomasum, the rumen being the largest compartment, this arrangement helps cattle to more efficiently digest grains and grasses.

13) Cows only have teeth on the bottom =D

Haha =D

14) Cows actually do not bite grass; instead they curl their tongue around it.

15) The average cow chews at least 50 times per minute.

16) A dairy cow can produce 125 lbs. of saliva a day

17) Cows spend 8 hours per day eating, 8 hours chewing her cud (regurgitated, partially digested food) An average cow has more than 40,000 jaw movements in a day.

19) When cows digest food, fermentation results in a large amount of methane; cattle produce 250 to 500 litres (and by some accounts, up to 1,000 litres) of methane gas per day.

According to Stanford University, livestock account for anywhere between 18 and 51 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent.

20) Cows have an excellent sense of smell and can detect odours up to six miles away. Cows can hear lower and higher frequencies better than humans.

21) Cows spend 10 to 12 hours a day lying down.

The typical cow stands up and sits down about 14 times a day.

22) A cows normal body temperature is 101.5°F (38.6°C). The normal body temperature of us human beings would be 98.6°F (37°C)

23) A cow’s heart beats between 60 and 70 beats per minute - Most adults have a resting heart rate of 60-100 beats per minute(bpm). The fitter you are, the lower your resting heart rate is likely to be.

24) The average sleep time of a domestic cow is about 6 hours a day; unlike horses, they don’t sleep standing up.

Awww so cute <3

25) Just like human beings, Cows spots are all uniquely different, there are never two with the same pattern of spots or makings.

Scottish Highland Cows

26) Scientists discovered that cattle have about 22,000 genes; 80 percent of their genes are shared with humans.

27) Cattle are extremely curious creatures and investigate anything and everything.

28) You can lead a cow upstairs, but not downstairs. Cows knees can’t bend properly to walk downstairs.

29) Cows can’t vomit

30) A German study found that cows tend to face either magnetic north or south when grazing or resting, regardless of the sun’s position or the wind’s direction. The study’s author says that magnetic compass orientation has been relatively under-studied in mammals; why cows use it remains a mystery.

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31) Domestic cows are descendants of wild oxen known as Aurochs, and they were first domesticated in South-east Turkey around 10,500 years ago. From the original 80 progenitors, an estimated 1.3 billion cattle exist today.

32) Taurus a major constellation in the northern hemisphere and the second sign of the western zodiac is represented by a bull. In ancient cultures, the year began with Taurus. Those born between April 21st and May 22nd are said to born under the sign of Taurus the bull and are said be practical, patient, persistent, strong-willed, solid, affectionate, warm-hearted, kind, generous ,trustworthy determined, reliable, stubborn, creative, bad tempered, idle, loyal, possessive.

33) Cows are naturally equipped with horns to protect themselves from predators and other dangers. Most dairy cows are dehorned, whereby the horn-bud is removed when they are a week or so old, so they never grow horns.

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Dehorning is the process of removing the horns or the sensitive horn tissue from cows’ skulls using searing-hot irons, caustic chemicals, blades, or hand saws.

http://www.peta2.com/blog/dehorning/

Animals often struggle violently and have to be restrained during this painful process, which is frequently performed without any anesthetics or painkillers and results in severe pain that lasts for hours and can even become chronic.

Another type of de-horning is performed on cows who have already developed horns. Farmers amputate the horns, which are already attached to the cows’ skull and full of nerves and blood vessels, using saws, sharp wires, or “guillotine” dehorners.

Workers de-horn cows so they don’t injure each other or humans as a result of the emotional distress and unnatural conditions they’re forced to endure on factory farms—which include being packed into living areas with thousands of other animals, forced to live amid their own waste, forcibly impregnated, and hauled off to slaughter once their milk production slows.

34) The most powerful relationship for a cow is that between a mother and baby. Cows have strong maternal bonds and are attentive, protective and loving parents. When allowed, a mother cow may nurse her calf for as long as three years. The mother-child bond continues after weaning; mothers and their children remain close to each other for life. There is also a sense of maternal community as other cows in the herd will help nurture calves if necessary.

Cows love to be stroked and are so affectionate! They are very loving and welcome interactions with kind people. Even cows who have been mistreated or abused in the past can heal over time, forgive and learn to trust people again.

Peta - "Cows are as diverse as cats, dogs, and people: Some are bright; others are slow learners. Some are bold and adventurous; others are shy and timid. Some are friendly and considerate; others are bossy and devious.

According to research, cows are generally very intelligent animals who can remember things for a long time. Animal behaviourists have found that cows interact in socially complex ways, developing friendships over time and sometimes holding grudges against other cows who treat them badly.

These gentle giants mourn the deaths of and even separation from those they love, even shedding tears over their loss. The mother-calf bond is particularly strong, and there are countless reports of mother cows who continue to frantically call and search for their babies after the calves have been taken away and sold to veal or beef farms."

I love visiting my local animal sanctuary where you can pet cows and many other animals! Soon I am going to be volunteering at my local sanctuary =D I cannot wait!!

My Vegan Fridge - Variety of Dairy Free Milks

Yummy!!!

I became a vegan on 3rd October 2015. I came across Gary Yourofsky's video "Best speech you will ever hear", within minutes of watching it I immediately decided to become a vegan and it's the best decision I have ever made!!