The average dairy cow eats about 25 kg of feed every day. They primarily eat grass, but they feed on other things too, which helps to give good quality milk, and fatten them up for superior quality beef. This post will answer that very question, and also look at some interesting facts about cows. Cows (also called cattle) are large animals that are raised for meat (beef and veal) and dairy products (milk and cheese). “Dairy cows are amazing contributors to our food supply. California also has a lot of different crops growing, and many of these crops have by-products that we can feed our cows. x 360/day! Cows drink 30–50 gallons of water each day – a bathtub full. Dairy cows are ruminants; this means, when they eat, they chew their food (called cud), swallow, and return the food to their mouth before chewing again. Cows can spend around eight hours a day chewing their cud! This is where cud comes from. Forage is the basis for a cow’s diet. Good bacteria in the rumen helps digest the cow’s food and provides protein for the cow. Most of our cows are used for personal consumption for farm employees, family, friends and local charities. What are the feed requirements of the milking cow? Omasum is sort of like a filter. This byproduct of Florida’s citrus industry is a cow feed staple on most of the state’s dairies. Daily rations are scientifically formulated according to the energy, protein and other nutritional needs of each animal. For example, cows at Matt Lussier’s Florida dairy farm have quite a taste for citrus pulp. The main factor in how much a cow will eat depends on her milk production. This post will answer that very question, and also look at some interesting facts about cows. Our research shows that 20% of what dairy cows eat in this country could be eaten by humans, but only 2.2% actually would be eaten,” he explained. Each cow may drink between 80 and 160 litres of water a day. This post will answer that very question, and also look at some interesting facts about cows. What Do Cows Eat? The use of these byproducts is endorsed by animal nutritionists who work with dairy farmers on creating optimal diets for cows. I think I will start a new series of blogs called “what do cows eat.” It may surprise some people what cows actually eat because on the farm, we use a variety of feeds for the cows. Our hardworking dairy farmers ensure that cows are given a quality, healthy diet in order to produce each glass of Canadian milk. If a cow does not eat, there is something wrong and she needs to be examined and evaluated for follow-up care. Dairy cows often eat as much as 100 pounds of rations a day, made up of a balanced combination of forage, grain, mineral supplements and protein-rich feeds such as soybean meal. Deconstructing Dairy Cow Diets Overview: The What Do Cows Eat? (8) Their worn out bodies become ground beef and restaurant hamburgers. Reticulum is called the hardware stomach because if cows accidentally eat hardware (like a piece of a pop can – please do not litter), it will often lodge here causing no further damage. If eating the meat of dairy cows seems like an obvious and economical old-world custom, one merely lost in the rise of quick-to-market factory farming of America, it’s surprisingly not. Of the 9 million dairy cows in the U.S., 3 million are slaughtered each year at only a fraction of their natural lifespan. Cows with fevers do not eat. “In the case of grass-fed cows, that means five times more time spent roaming on pasture and developing intramuscular fat. • A cow can eat up to three suitcases full of hay (20 kilograms) and Photo: Farm Sanctuary What You Can Do