A Few Random Cow Facts

by

I love random facts (science teacher) and today I’m sharing some cow facts with you.

First the nomenclature–A cow is a female bovine. A bull is an intact male bovine. A steer is a neutered male. A heifer is a young cow that has not yet had a calf.  Cattle is the term for a group of various bovines. I’m calling them all cows today. 🙂

Now the factoids–

Cows can run up to 25 miles per hour, however, they only run in short bursts.

Cows can jump a 5-foot fence, often from a standing position.

Cows have eyes set to the side and have trouble seeing directly in front of them. They see very well to the side and behind, so it’s difficult to sneak up on them. Their panoramic vision is close to 360 degrees.

Cows are super social. They depend on the herd for protection, so they don’t like to be alone. Cows will sometimes make best friends.

Cows can smell up to six miles away.

Cows are good swimmers. A cow in the Netherlands swam 62 miles during a flood.

Cows live 15-20 years.

Cows can weigh up to 3,000 pounds. Most weight between 900 and 2,000 pounds.

Cows have no upper teeth in the front of their mouth. They grind their food between the teeth in their bottom jaw and a hard dental pad on the roof of their mouth. They have molars in both upper and lower jaws, however, and when they burp their food back into their mouths to chew for a second digestion (the cud) they chew with the molars to further break it down.

Cows do not really have four stomachs–they have a compartmentalized stomach with each of the four compartments having a different job in digestion.

Oxen are cows or bulls that have been bred to work. They are larger and stronger than the average bull or cow, thus the term “as strong as an ox.” If male, they are generally neutered.

Cows produce 20-40 quarts of saliva a day. They need this much saliva to get dry hay processed in their digestive system. The saliva also aids in cud chewing.

And finally…cow tipping is probably NOT a thing, because cows sleep laying down.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the random cow facts. If it weren’t for cows, we’d have no cowboys, so I’m grateful for this amazing animal!

 

 

 

 

Website |  + posts

Jeannie Watt raises cattle in Montana and loves all things western. When she's not writing, Jeannie enjoys sewing, making mosaic mirrors, riding her horses and buying hay. Lots and lots of hay.

39 thoughts on “A Few Random Cow Facts”

  3. I love these. Being an Animal Science major and all. Cows also have a gestation period of 282 days, same as Humans.

  6. I enjoyed your blog. I grew up on a small farm, and daddy always had a few head of cattle. Their sales is what put me through college.

  7. Wow. Some of that I didn’t know and I grew up with them! My father kept a record of each cow tagged. How many calves they had. How the birth or went at times. Dates, age, etc. I have a cute pic of my children giving a bottle to a calf. They didn’t grow up on a farm, but they did visit and learn from it. Thanks for the information Jeannie!

  8. AND due to their digestive system if the do get tipped over on their backs, they usually drown in their own fluids – so many of ours will fall off a hay pile and even if we find them and get them up they usually don’t make it ;–(((

  11. I’ve always loved cows!! I always wanted one when I was growing up. One of my uncle’s used to have some cows, and he decided to put one up to fatten for slaughter. We were going to visit, and my three older sisters told Mom and Daddy not to let me see that cow (we were sharing in the meat) because I wouldn’t want to eat if I saw the cow. I didn’t see it, but I love beef, so I’m thinking it wouldn’t have been a problem!

  12. Hi, thank you so much for sharing all these cow facts, they are all very interesting. I think cows are pretty cute and they look like very gentle creatures. My adult grown daughter loves cows, we have never had one, so I have given give plush cows.

  14. Thanks for the information and I love that they make best friends! This resonated with me too…‘however, they only run in short bursts’…I relate to that haha…

  16. Enjoyed the cow facts and I knew they could jump because we had some that kept jumping the fence and visiting our neighbors years ago.

  18. Flat footed over a five foot fence I have seen….actually 41/2 foot corral panel. I was keeping an eye on the bull while my husband took the tractor after another panel. The bull looked at me, turned around and jumped over the panel before I could get to that side of the corral. The worst part was we had been trying to pen him for several days and he escaped again. It sounds funny now but it definitely wasn’t that day.

  19. I was familiar with most of these interesting factoids. One thing I wasn’t aware of was cows being able to jump 5 foot fences, standing or from a running start. I don’t think I have ever seen a pasture fence much higher than 4 to 4 1/2 feet. For that matter, I haven’t seen many adult cows jump at all. Calves and yearlings jumping around in play but that is all. I have see full grown bears jump pasture fences, but never a cow. Come to think of it, the pen they used to breed their cows had much higher fences – close to 6 feet. (hid was a long time ago before artificial insemination was much of a thing so they did it the old fashioned way.). When I would cut across the pastures, I always made sure I wasn’t too far from the fences. I didn’t trust all the cows. Several would always give me the evil eye and watch every move I made.

  20. Cows can smell up to six miles away. – Wow, that is one stinky cow. 🙂 I loved the facts. Also, I think it is shameful that cow tipping is not a real thing. The cows work hard and should get at least a 20% tip on every check they give you.

    OK, that is enough bad jokes based upon cow facts.

Comments are closed.