Where do they come from? Where do they go? Cows.

Cows are interesting creatures, although they may be some of the smelliest creatures, there are things about them that you have yet to learn. There are normally a shortage of wild cows. The reason being is that cows have been somewhat tamed and decended from the bison. There are still millions of bison roaming around. But after a while you will notice that most cave painting depict very few cows and more buffalo or bison, as the ages of man evolve, records begin to show cows becoming more like the farm animals we know today.

Cows are producers. They are all used on farms normally for either Dairy or beef. The ones you see at the county fair are the steak on your plate that night. Somewhat gruesome but delicious. Dairy cows give milk. Only female cows give milk. But not all male cows are bulls. A common misconception is that beef cows are all bulls when in fact there is a difference. These are the main farm products used from cows.

Now that we have some basic facts I can teach you about the stranger things about cows.

A cow has four stomachs as shown here. The cow’s stomach is larger then most of it’s body because of theamount of sugars and fats they need to take in because of their diet and production. Grass usually is only a source of fiber. You can see the Rumen. It is the largest section of the cow’s stomach. Get this: It can hold up to fifty gallons of digested food, although, most of it is not digested by this point since it is still new. This contains the protein making process. The Reticulum with soften any grass that is swallowed into the stomach. It is made into “cud” which is sent back up to the mouth where they chew it 50-60 times before swallowing it properly. Tough jaw bones. The Omasum simply filters through food and further digests the cud. The final stage is the Abomasum where the final breakdown of nuitrients happens. The cow’s stomach is much like a human’s at this point in which it uses acids to breakdown the food and send it off to the intestines. The next step is a cow patty to step in! Shower time!

Ever noticed those black spots on some cows? of course you did! But did you know that these patterns are not similiar between any two cows. Though you can find shapes that are nearly identical, there is unimaginable possibilities and a match for one cow has never been found in it’s life time. Scientists have yet to prove whether this is genetic or not.

On a side note, Along with eating habits, most cows drink about a bathtub full of water each day!

A more distrubing note, recently in Iowa, the hottest parts of them, Cows are exploding. It’s a simple process in which gas bubbles form inside the natural air of the cow’s body and cause it to slowly become poisoned or die of heat exhaustion. As quickly as possible, farm hands drag the bodies into shade because the body is still heating up at an alarming rate and will actually explode! How crazy is that?

Milk, A beautiful thing. I won’t go into the whole churning process but if you didn’t know: Cow’s milk is nearly 100 degrees fahrenheit when it leaves the utter. That’s why milk is chilled so quickly.

There is still so much to learn about cows!