Holly Spindler
How far away can cows smell? How long do they sleep for? You may be surprised to find out!
Cows were domesticated as long as 10,500 years ago. But while we often see them in the countryside, many still don't know much about them. We’re sharing our top 10 facts about these amazing animals.
1. Cows are unique The predominant breed used for the dairy industry, Holstein-Friesian cows, all have different black and white markings making the pattern as unique as a fingerprint.
2. Cows are social You’ll often see cows in a field all bunched together. They are sociable and prefer to be in a herd. They can build close bonds with other cows but can be picky, often staying away from certain cows they just haven’t ‘clicked’ with.
3. Cows don’t see red Cows are actually red-green colour blind so the ‘red rag to a bull’ phrase is not true at all! During the horrific ‘sport’ of bullfighting, the animals are drawn to the waving motion of the flag, not the colour.
When it comes to their other senses, cows can smell something up to 6 miles away and they can hear lower and higher frequencies better than humans.
Cows also have a good sense of direction. A study by University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany 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.
4. They have a good memory Studies have shown that they can remember locations of food for over a month depending on their age (like humans, their memory gets worse with age). They can also recognise different human faces, and calves have shown they recognise and react to their mother’s voice over another cow’s voice.
5. Cows don’t have four stomachs Many people think that cows have four stomachs. In fact, they only have one, but it’s divided into four chambers. These are called the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum and they allow the hard-to-digest food that cows eat to produce the most nutrients.
To aid digestion, cows spend a lot of time chewing cud, which is when they regurgitate a bit of their food at a time to chew further and help it break down. Without these specialised processes, they would not be able to digest tough grasses.
6. Cows have an accent! Studies have shown that cows moo in different ways depending on their location, leading people to say that cows can have regional accents.
7. Udderly amazing A cow’s udder is made up of two pairs of mammary glands, or teats, which in natural conditions would be used to feed their young calves.
Calves will stay with their mothers for up to 11 months in natural conditions but in the dairy industry are taken away after just a few hours.
8. What’s in a name? The word ‘cow’ actually refers to the female of the animal, whilst ‘bull’ refers to the male. The word ‘cow’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘cū’.
9. Wakey wakey Cows only sleep for around 4 hours a day. While many think they sleep standing up, they actually lie down to sleep. They do however have the ability to lock relevant ligaments, muscles and tendons in order to doze whilst standing up.
Cows can lie down for up to 10 hours a day. This is alright in a field, but often dairy cows can suffer painful medical conditions due to filthy, hard flooring on farms.
10. Cows can swim Cows are actually good swimmers! Three cows made headlines when they were discovered on Cape Lookout National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina after swimming there.
So there you go, cows are amazingly well-adapted, sociable and talented individuals!
If you’d like to learn more about the dairy industry, read our blog.
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