Cows

Cows belong to the scientific family Bovidae, which includes other hooved animals like buffalo, bison, and yaks!

A group of cows is called a herd, and some herds can have more than 50 members!

Domestic cows can live up to 20 years, though most farm cows live between 15–17 years!

A female cow is called a cow, a male is called a bull, and a baby is called a calf!

An adult dairy cow can weigh as much as a small car — between 1,500 to 2,000 pounds (680-907 kg)!

A cow has 32 teeth, but they don’t have any upper front teeth — instead, they have a tough pad of skin!

A cow’s heart beats between 60–70 times per minute, similar to a human’s heart!

Cows can see in color, but they can’t see the color red — that’s why it’s not the red cape that makes bulls charge in bullfighting!

A cow’s nose print is unique, just like a human’s fingerprint — no two cows have the same pattern!

The average cow is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall at their shoulder — that’s taller than most kindergarteners!

A cow’s tongue can be up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) long — that’s longer than most rulers!

Cows have amazing hearing and can hear both lower and higher frequencies better than humans!

A cow makes around 40,000 jaw movements a day when chewing their food!

A cow’s body temperature is normally 101.5°F (38.6°C), slightly higher than a human’s!

Cows have panoramic vision and can see about 330 degrees around themselves without turning their head!

Cows can recognize more than 100 other cows in their herd and remember them for years!

Cows form close friendships with other cows and become stressed when separated from their friends!

Cows communicate with each other using different moos — scientists have identified at least 11 different moo sounds!

A mother cow and her calf can recognize each other’s calls from among hundreds of other cows!

Cows spend about 8 hours a day sleeping, but they can do it standing up or lying down!

Cows are excellent swimmers and enjoy playing in water on hot days!

Cows typically spend 6–7 hours each day just chewing their cud (regurgitated food)!

Cows can solve simple puzzles and learn to push buttons with their nose to get food or water!

Cows usually choose a leader for their herd — typically an older, experienced cow who helps guide the group!

Cows prefer to walk up hills but will walk down hills backward because it’s easier on their legs!

A cow drinks about a bathtub full of water every day — that’s 25–50 gallons (95-189 liters)!

A dairy cow produces between 6–8 gallons (22-30 liters) of milk every day — that’s enough to fill 100 glasses!

A cow spends about 6 hours eating each day and can eat up to 100 pounds (45 kg) of food!

When a cow chews its cud, each mouthful gets chewed about 50 times!

If you lined up 10 cows nose to tail, they would be as long as a basketball court!

A cow’s weight is equal to about 30 second-grade students combined!

A cow drinks enough water each day to fill 650-853 juice boxes!

There are more than 1.5 billion cattle in the world — that’s one cow for every five people!

A baby calf can stand up and walk within one hour of being born!

A newborn calf weighs about 85 pounds (39 kg) — that’s about as much as a large dog!

Calves grow very quickly and can double their birth weight in just 50 days!

Most cows give birth to one calf at a time, but twins happen in about 1-2% of births!

A calf’s first meal happens within 30 minutes of birth, and they drink about 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of milk per day!

Baby calves have special stomachs that can only digest milk for their first few weeks of life!

By six months old, a calf can weigh as much as 500 pounds (227 kg) — that’s more than a piano!

A female calf can start having her own babies when she’s about 15 months old!

Calves start growing their first teeth before they’re even born!

A cow’s heart weighs about 5 pounds (2.3 kg) — that’s about as heavy as 5 big apples!

Cows can sleep while standing up because they have special leg muscles that lock their knees!

A cow’s tail can grow to be 3–4 feet (0.9-1.2 meters) long — that’s taller than many preschoolers!

A cow’s brain weighs about 1 pound (0.45 kg) — that’s about the size of a large grapefruit!

A cow produces over 200 pounds (90 kg) of saliva every day — that’s enough to fill a bathtub!

Cows spend almost 8 hours every day chewing their food!

A dairy cow needs to drink about 3 to 5 gallons of water (11 to 19 liters) to produce one gallon of milk! That’s a lot of water to help make delicious milk!

Cows can smell something up to 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) away — that’s like smelling a cookie baking in an oven from 120 football fields away!