Cows

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Cow is a member of the Bovidae family and is a part of the subfamily Bovinae. One of the most common animals in the world, found in almost all the countries, a cow is responsible for supplying around 90 percent of the dairy needs of the world population. Apart from being useful in terms of milk and meat, cow is also considered as a sacred animal, in a number of countries and religions across the globe, like Hindu religion of India. Various ancient Hindu texts have references about cows being sacrosanct animals, with terms like ‘mother’ used for them. In Orthodox Hinduism, beef consumption is by the most repugnant of all the sins committed by a man. Cow is worshipped by the Hindus and revered as ‘Gow Mata’, meaning the Mother Cow. Even the Hindu God Lord Krishna has been associated with cows. He was born to a family of cowherds and was given the name ‘Govinda’ which means guardian of cows. In the following lines, we have provided a number of interesting facts and some amazing information on cows. Cow

Fast Facts

Binomial Name: Bos taurus

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Subfamily: Bovinae

Genus: Bos

Species: B. taurus

Weight: 600 to 900 kg

Number of Teeth: 32

Heaviest Calf: British Friesian cow (225 lbs.)

Diet: Herbivorous

Natural Habitat: Throughout the world

Age: 15 to 25 years

Age of Maturity: 2 years

Gestation Period: 9 months

Number of Offspring: 1 to 2

Interesting & Amazing Information on Cows •The male counterpart of a cow is called bull and the offspring is known as a calf. •A cow can climb up the stairs, but cannot climb down. This is because her knees cannot bend properly. •A cow gives milk for the first time, only after she gives birth to a calf. •A cow produces around 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime. •A cow stands up and sits down about 14 times a day. •A cow that weighs 1000 pound can produce an average 10 tons of manure every year. •A cow usually spends 6-7 hours in day eating cud and around 8 hours on chewing it. •Almost all the cows chew at least 50 times per minute. •An average cow has more than 40,000 jaw movements in a day. •An average cow produces 30 lbs. of urine and 65 lbs. pounds of feces daily. •Cows are venerated in the Hindu religion of India. •Cows can drink up to 35 gallons of water a day. •Cows do not bite grass; rather they curl their tongue around it. •Cows have a single stomach, but four digestive compartments. •Cows have almost total 360-degree panoramic vision. •Cows have an acute sense of smell and can smell something up to 6 miles away. •Cows produce around 90 percent of the milk in the world. •Dairy cows can produce up to 125 lbs. of saliva a day. •The average body temperature of a cow is 101.5°F. •A Holstein cow, named Robthom Suzet Paddy, holds the record for the greatest yield for a single lactation (365 days), at 59,298 lbs. •A cow named Cow No. 289 holds the record for the highest lifetime yield of milk for a single cow, at 465,224 lbs. •The highest milk yield for a single day is 241 lbs. , by a cow named Urbe Blanca. •The oldest cow till date was Big Bertha, a Dremon, which died just 3 months shy of her 49th birthday. •It takes one hour for a person to milk 6 cows. But when the milking is done by modern machines, almost 100 cows can be milked in an hour. •One gallon of ice-cream requires 12 pounds of whole milk. •Sometimes cows sleep while standing. •A cow has four digestive compartments in her stomach called the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. •Cows can run faster than horses when it comes to soggy places. Their cloven hooves and toes spread so their feet do not sink and get stuck, unlike the solid-foot horses. •Because of their milk which they produce in large quantities, cows are called foster mothers to the human race. •Due to the improvement in dairying, today one cow can produce milk which once 10 cows took to produce. •Cows have 32 teeth in total.