- Male – bull
- Female – cow
- Baby - calf
Cattle are kept for milk (dairy breeds) and meat (beef breeds). They are ruminants, which means they have a large,
complex digestive system that enables them to eat foods such as grass and straw, which contain large amounts of
hard-to-digest cellulose.
Cattle swallow grass without chewing it properly (they only have one set of teeth). After eating, the cow will rest
and regurgitate its food and chew it to a pulp before re-swallowing – this is called 'chewing the cud'. The food then passes
through the remaining stomachs to complete its digestion.
Cows have to produce a calf before they can give milk. The cow is milked for 10 months, and three months after giving birth she
is mated again and continues to be milked until two months before she is due to calve. Beef cattle remain with their calves and
are weaned naturally.
Breeds
Dexter and Miniature Dexter cattle
Dexter cattle are the smallest of the European cattle breeds, being about half the size of a traditional Hereford and about one
third of the size of a Friesian milking cow. They originated in Ireland and were first brought to England in 1882. Until recently
they were considered a rare breed, but their numbers are now recovering.
Although they are usually black, a dark red or dun Dexter can sometimes be found. They are always solid in colour, with only very
minor white marking on the udder or behind the navel. Their horns are small and thick and grow outward with a forward curve on the
male and upward on the female.
Dexters produce a rich milk, relatively high in butterfat (4%), and the quality of the milk is similar to that of a Jersey cow. Some
claim the milk is more naturally homogenised than other milk due to smaller fat globules. Dexters can produce 2-2.5 gallons
(7.6-9.5 litres) per day.
The cows are good mothers, hiding their calves almost from birth if there is any cover for them to hide in. They will produce enough
milk to feed 2-3 calves, and often will willingly nurse calves from other cows.
Highland cattle
Highland cattle originated in the Highlands of Scotland, where they have lived for hundreds of years. They are docile animals that have
a protective instinct for other members of the herd, and they make good mothers.
Bred to withstand the coldest of climates, they can survive where other cattle perish thanks to their thick woolly coat and shaggy hair
over their eyes, which give protection from driving wind, rain and insects.
They can exist on very little in the way of good grazing – in fact, it has been said that a Highland will eat what other cattle pass
by and will get fat on it.
The horns of the female curl up, whereas male horns grow out straighter.
White Park cattle (rare breed)
A large, adaptable beef breed able to thrive in a variety of conditions, this is probably the most ancient breed of cattle recorded in
the British Isles (dating back to the 6th century). It is believed that they descended from the wild white bull, which roamed the forests
covering the British Isles. Royalty hunted them until only 150 years ago.
- In the 13th century some herds were enclosed in parks and some of those herds remain in existence today.
- They are white in colour with black points (ears, nose, rings of eyes, and feet). The upper part of their tongue is black, whilst the underneath is pink.
- They have a low level of back fat, thus giving a lean carcass. Our original cows here at Farming World were bought from the dispersal of a Welsh herd.
Facts
- Cattle do not have teeth on their upper jaw; they wrap their tongues around grass and pull food into their mouth.
- Dairy cows can eat 70kg of grass in a day – equivalent to their own bodyweight in a week!
- Cows have four stomachs so that they can digest all the grass that they eat.
- In winter, cows eat hay (dried grass) and silage (pickled grass).
- Dairy cows are milked twice a day, and can give up to 18 litres of milk a day.
- They produce 20 times their own weight of milk in a year.
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Milk is made into butter, cheese, yoghurt and ice cream, while cows also give us meat, leather from their hides, fertiliser and
glue from their horns, as well as bi-products used in medicine.
- 25 litres of cream makes 1kg of butter.
- Cows excrete 50kg (7.5 stone) of 'cow pats' per day!