How Much do You Know about Dairy Cows?

  1. Those things about cows

Milk comes from dairy cows. At present, the main breeds of dairy cows in the world are Holstein, Jersey, Aierxia, and Gengsai. Among them, Holstein is the most common. Its body size is much larger than other dairy cows, and its domestication ability is extremely strong. It has been successfully bred in many countries. The milk production of Holstein cattle is the highest among all dairy cattle breeds. Although the milk production of Jersey cattle is not as good as that of Holstein cattle, its milk quality is more mellow and excellent, and it is also loved by consumers.

Dairy cows generally go through three stages of milk production, namely the peak period (about 3 months), the evaporated milk period (about 7 months) and the stop milking period (about 2 months). The daily milk production of dairy cows in the peak period is as high as 25- 40 kilograms (kg), while the daily milk production in the evaporated milk period is generally maintained between 5-20 kilograms (kg).

2. What do cows eat?

In order to meet the needs of normal milk production, dairy cows also eat a lot of food a day, which can usually be divided into three categories: one is roughage, mixed concentrate and juicy feed. Rough fodder mainly includes hay, crop straw, green fodder, silage, etc. Second, mixed concentrate is composed of energy feed (corn meal, wheat bran), protein supplement (cake meal, fish meal), mineral salts and vitamins , The trace element additives are prepared according to a certain proportion; Third, the juicy feed is mainly composed of tubers (such as carrots, sweet potatoes) and dregs (such as brewer’s grains, bean curd residue, corn starch residue). According to statistics, dairy cows often consume as much as 40 kilograms of feed a day.

How to make sure to feed is safe for cows to eat? Meizheng feed test kits can protect the feed for cows from mycotoxins.

3. The powerful digestive system of cows

Since it comes to dairy cows, we have to mention its unique 4 stomachs, namely rumen, reticulum (honeycomb stomach), ovum and abomasum. The reason why cows have so many stomachs is because cows are ruminants and have the phenomenon of rumination. This is mainly due to the fact that the feeding process of dairy cows is generally in a hurry. The roughage is swallowed into the rumen without being fully chewed. After soaking and softening in the rumen for a period of time, the food returns to the mouth of the dairy cow after revomiting. After chewing again, it is mixed with saliva. It is swallowed into the rumen for the second time, and then passes through other stomachs in turn, thereby realizing the full digestion and absorption of food.

Meizheng’s Dairy Test Kits can ensure the safety of the dairy and milk.