COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT US - THE COWS

So I was thinking this morning that why not I share some common misconceptions with you all, and clear up the air.

1. We cows do not have four stomachs. We only have ONE.


2. During bull fighting cows are not aggravated by the colour red. Instead it is because of the waving of the cloth. It is commonly thought that male cows called bulls are aggravated by the colour red. However, this is not true, as cows are red-green colour blind. This means that cows cannot differentiate between the different colours. This misconception came about as trainers for bull fighting are usually seen using a red cloth to spur the cow.















-MooMoo

The MOUTH & TEETH of a cow

I happened to visit the dentist today and he told me some very interesting things: The cow's mouth & teeth and how it works!

About the mouth and teeth:
The mouths of cows are very different from most nonruminant animals. Cows have 32 teeth. They have 6 incisors and 2 canines in the front on the bottom.  The canines are more like incisors that like sharp teeth that cats like cheetahs and lions have. We don't have incisors on top. Instead, we have dental pads.  Cows have 6 premolars and 6 molars on both top and bottom jaws each, giving us a total of 24 molars.  In addition, there is a large gap between the incisors and molars.  This allows us to harvest and chew a large amount of fibrous food.


Because our teeth are primarily for grinding and not cutting or tearing, we use our tongues to grasp or gather grass and then pinch it off between their incisors and dental pad.  Since we lack upper incisors, cows cannot bite off grass very well (this is actually quite annoying, but that's what makes us cows). The inside of the cheeks and palate are rough which helps us hold food in while we chew with a side to side motion. So you can't blame us for chewing slowly! Our teeth aren't as sharp as you humans!


Not only does the mouth help to make our food particles smaller, the mouth also aids in digestion by adding saliva to the food. Interestingly, cows produce 20-35 gallons of saliva a day!  The saliva, containing sodium bicarbonate to keep the rumen at the proper pH for good microbial growth, helps moisten the feed. Much of the water contained in saliva is recycled by the cow for use as well. Talk about resourcefulness!

Wow, a cow's mouth alone is so interesting! I'm going to go and find out more about the cow's stomach then! Our super super awesomely cool stomach that has 4 parts! :D

-MooMoo

More Information on the Passage of the Food that I Eat

As promised, I found out more information about myself and so I am posting them.
After talking with my friend the wise owl, I found out that I only have 1 stomach but it is separated into four different components - the rumen, reticulum, omasum and the abomasum. Also the food that I eat is sent a few times to the mouth for re-chewing and then the cud is being swallowed again.

Briefly: The Passage of The Food That I Eat
MOUTH
Food is consumed through the mouth and mixed thoroughly with the saliva. Then the food passes through the oesophagus into the stomach

STOMACH ( RUMEN)
In the rumen, the food is fermented, which includes the breaking down of cellulose, carbohydrates and fibre.

STOMACH (RETICULUM)
Foreign objects from the food that I eat is deposited here. Thus the reticulum is also known as the 'hardware stomach'.

STOMACH (OMASUM)
The main function of the omasum is to absorb water and nutrients. the skin-lining of the omasum is layered, thus it allows more surface area to absorb moisture


STOMACH (ABOMASUM)
This part of my stomach functions just like a human stomach, thus it is also known as the 'true stomach'. Hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes are released, to produce peptides.

SMALL INTESTINE
This is where most of the digestion is completed. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and amino acids being absorbed here.

LARGE INTESTINE
In this part of my stomach, water is reabsorbed again and undigested food is excreted as fecal dropping.

This is what I learnt from the owl today. Maybe now you will start to think that cow's digestive system is similar to the humans' just that we have four different parts in our stomach.


-MooMoo

PS: Hmm... Maybe I'll go research more and put up even more things about my digestive system!

FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ME!

My friend, Milky and I eating! Our favourite pasttime! ^^


Well I have decided that you guys don't really know much about cows, do you? In case you're thinking that cows are boring, wait till you get a load of these cool facts! They're sure to change your typical view of cows.

1. 

A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.

2. 

Cows drink 30 gallons of water a day.

3. 

A cow has about 207 bones in its body.

4. 

Cows belch methane. (We can EXPLODE!! No, not really.)

5. 

It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs, because a cow's knees cannot bend properly to walk back down. (SORRY. BUT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO CARRY ME DOWN!)

6. 

 Cattle can perceive higher and fainter noises than humans can, and they can smell scents that are up to six miles away (if the wind is right). (LOOK HERE HUMANS. JUST BECAUSE WE DON'T HEAR YOU CALLING FOR US COWS TO COME HOME, AND TAKE VERY LONG TO, DOESN'T MEAN THAT OUR HEARING IS BAD!)


7.

Cows are red-green colour blind. That means that we cannot distinguish between red and green

8.

Besides eating grass, cows can also eat waste left over from what humans eat. For example, we can eat candy waste and soybean meal!!!

So just in case you were wondering, those were some facts about me! I hope you no longer think cows are a yawn!

-MooMoo

About the cow needing to chew a lot...

And so I've heard that humans think that we're weird because of how much we need to chew. Well then, Muggles, (Yes, I did attend the Friday barn movie screening... Not that cows were invited, but since the humans didn't notice that I was watching...) I would like to clear up some confusion on behalf of my proud kind.

I asked my doctor about it, and this is what he told me:

"Cow are ruminants, means the digestive system of cow allows to use of otherwise indigestible foods by continually regurgitating and rechewing them as "cud"."

Well, to put in simpler terms, we cows can eat food that humans find indigestible as we can chew and chew and chew and eventually swallow it. Pretty cool, huh?

Apparently, cows are herbivores, and we feed on plants. Food is consumed through the mouth. The tongue helps us to gather grass and then the grass is pinched off between our incisors and dental pad, thus entering our mouths. Our teeth helps in chewing and grinding food. Chewing helps the feed to mix thoroughly with the saliva. Saliva is secreted by salivary glands initiates starch digestion and contains sodium bicarbonate which helps to maintain neutral pH (6.5-7.2) for microbial growth. 

Hmm I'll go look up other information, and I'll post them here later. :) Maybe I'll ask the smart owl for some help...

-MooMoo

Went for a check up today...

After being in this little farm for so long, Mr Farmer finally decided to bring me to a doctor to have a little check up, to make sure that I'm fine. It was really interesting, learning about different parts of the cow. I learnt a lot, and I thought that I'd set up a blog (or so that's what the humans call it) on the Internet to share about it.

-MooMoo