Cow FactsAbout the animals at Clark's Elioak Petting Farm
Cows
The COWS at our farm are Erin Malone and Cannoli.
On December 5, 2014 Moon Pie the cow was born. Moon Pie is all brown with a small crescent moon on her forehead. She is a Dexter and Belted Galloway cross. We were honored to be able to rechristen her with a new name in January 2017. We learned that Erin Malone, a very brave little girl from Baltimore, loves cows a lot and we wanted to name our little brown cow after such a remarkable young lady.
Our newest cow is Cannoli. He is a White Park miniature cow. Cannoli was born January 19, 2024. At his full grown size he should be around 42 inches or shorter. He is white with a brown nose, eyes, and ears. White Park, Dexter, and Belted Galloway cows are all traditionally known as beef breeds. That means they will be thick and stocky animals with lots of muscle. We generally also have a Jersey calf at the farm with Cannoli. Jersey cows, like traditional black and white Holstein cows, are dairy breeds and are traditionally thinner and boney when very healthy! We love to show the difference in these different types of animals.
FUN FACTS ABOUT COWS
Cows are ruminants, which are cud chewing mammals. Sheep and camels also are ruminants A cow chews her cud (regurgitated, partially digested food) for up to 8 hours each day.
All cows see color the way we do. They can live for 25 years. Cows like to be petted in places where they can't reach; especially under the chin and the neck. Never yell or moo at a cow; its scares them and makes them hard to handle.
Cows are referred to as the foster mothers of the human race because they produce most of the milk that people drink.
The first cow in America arrived in Jamestown colony in 1611. Until the 1850's, nearly every family had its own cow. The first regular shipment of milk by railroad was between Orange County, New York, and New York City and began in 1841.
In 1856, Gail Borden invented the condensed milk process. This process removed some of the water from milk so it would take up less space. Refrigeration came into use in 1880, and the first pasteurizing machine was introduced in 1895.
Dairying has improved through the years. Today, one cow can produce the milk that it once took 10 cows to produce.
Around 9.2 million cows are being milked on 110,000 farms in the United States. More than 99% of all dairy farms are family owned and operated. Most cows used for milking are Holsteins, the black and white cow that many people think of when they think of a cow. There are many other milk cow breeds, such as Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire and Brown Swiss.
Cows are milked for an average of 3-4 years. A cow must have a calf in order to produce milk. Calves are fed milk until they are 8-9 weeks old. The average cow is 2 years old when she has her first calf.
Before milking machines were invented in 1894, farmers could only milk about 6 cows per hour. Today, farmers use machines to milk more than 100 cows per hour.
Dairy cows provide most of the world's milk supply. The average cow gives about 6-7
gallons of milk each day. U.S. cows give an average of 2,000 gallons of milk per
year. That's over 30,000 glasses of milk!
There are other breeds of cattle raised mostly for meat. These include Angus,
Hereford, Charolais, Belted Galloway and Highland cattle.
Dexter cattle originated in Ireland. They are triple purpose cattle: dairy, beef and
working animals. Dexters do not give as much milk as the larger Holstein breed. A
Dexter cow can give 2 gallons of milk a day.
It takes 1 ½ gallons of milk to make 1 gallon of ice cream.