Last year, we had to do a presentation at HIS (Home Instructed Students), our homeschool coop. We, of course, choose to do ours on the cow. I thought this information might interest you, too.
The cow is mentioned 44 times in the O.T., so milking is no new thing.
The information that I will share is for the holstein breed, which are the black and white. There are several different breeds of cows, but the most common in this area are the holsteins.
A mature cow will weigh about 1,400 lbs., which equals 28 children who weigh about 50 lbs. each
They eat 80 #'s of food a day = 360 cheeseburgers
They drink a bathtub of water a day = 25-50 gallons = 400 - 800 glasses
Now if a cow eats this much, how much manure does it give a day? 16 gallons
Of course, a cow must have alot of saliva to be able to chew it's cud. 125 #'s = 15 gallons
A young cow (female) is called a heifer until it has a calf. Then it is called a cow. A heifer can have a calf when it is 2 years old. A cow carries a calf for 9 months - just lke humans.
A calf weighs about 80 # when it is born. After it is born, it can nurse from it's mom, or if a farmer wants to milk the cow, the calf will be taken from mom and must be fed a bottle 2 X's a day for 8-9 weeks then it can start eating grain, hay and silage.
Now the momma cow will produce about 8 gallon of milk a day = 128 - 8 oz glasses. She can milk for up to 6 years, but she would need to have a calf every year.
The udder stores milk, has 4 teats, and weigh about 35 #'s when full.
Milk that comes straight from cow is called raw milk. It is how God created it and in it's natural form. The milk you purchase in the store has 3 things done to it.
pasteurized - heated to 145 degrees and held at the temp. for 30 min. to kill any harmful bacteria
homogenized - when the fat globules of cream are broken into small sizes so that they will remain mixed in the milk and the cream will not rise to the top. This fat is good fat and is not harmful and when it is homogenized it makes it harder for our bodies to digest.
fat adjusted - either they leave it whole milk, or they remove certain amounts of the cream to make it 2%, 1% or they remove all the cream to make it skim milk. If you want "fat" milk, feed the cows more hay.
There is great controversy over whether you should drink raw milk or not. To many of us, it is the best way to drink milk. In the form that God created it to be and by drinking it, our bodies build immunites to many stomach "bugs". Our family rarely has a stomach virus. Praise goes to God!
How much milk should we drink in a day? 1-12 year olds - 3 servings, teen - 4, adult - 2.
So next time you drink milk or see those cows out in a pasture, maybe you can appreciate them alittle more the before. There are many farm families that work hard to provide that glass of milk, or piece of cheese, or sourcream, ice-cream, yogurt, butter, "real" pudding and milk shakes.
How is that for dairy promotion? Hee Hee!
until next time................
