CATTLE

Now it’s time to meet our beautiful bovines – the cattle.

These gentle beasts are known as bovines, forming part of a family that includes bison, buffalo, and antelope.

Like most of their animal relatives, they are large creatures with a sturdy and rounded body shape. Their coats are short to medium in length and can vary in colour and pattern depending on the breed. The breed also determines their unique characteristics, size and purpose - and with over 800 varieties of cattle, they are a very diverse family!

Males are called bulls, while desexed males are referred to as steers. Males generally weigh between 650 to 1120 kilograms, so you wouldn’t want them stepping on your toes! Females are typically lighter than their male counterparts, weighing between 450 to 650 kilograms. Females who have not yet given birth are called heifers, while females who have borne babies are called cows. Baby cattle (known as calves) are born after a gestation period of nine months, much like humans. However, unlike us humans, their expected life span is about 20 years.

Cattle are generally known for their calm and gentle demeanour. Creatures of habit, they thrive on routine and often follow predictable daily patterns, such as grazing and resting.

Cattle are ruminant animals, with a four-chambered stomach. Their diet primarily consists of forage, including grasses and hay, but can also include grains and other supplemental feeds. They have an almost insatiable appetite, consuming up to 18 kilograms of food each day. They are also notoriously slow eaters, renowned for ‘chewing their cud’.

Cattle are incredibly versatile animals, serving as sources of dairy products, meat and leather. They are also a valuable form of labour in the agricultural industry. Even their manure serves a practical purpose, acting as a great organic fertiliser to enhance soil quality.

Here’s a few more fun facts about cows.

Cattle have a visual field of 330 degrees, offering them an almost all-round view of their surroundings. However, their colour perception is much more limited. Blue and yellow can be seen, but contrary to popular belief, they cannot see red.

Rather than requiring large stints of sleep, cattle are the ultimate ‘power nappers’, resting for 6 to 10 brief bouts of deep sleep daily, adding up to about 30 minutes. However, they love to lounge – spending up to ten hours lying down daily!