I love cows, and, to be fair, I don’t think I’ve met anyone who isn’t a fan of these gentle beasts. I’ve always liked cows, but my appreciation for them definitely increased once I met Blaine as he happens to be a beef farmer. I’ve learned a shit load about cattle through Blaine, and I’ve also gained some experience and knowledge in working with them, accompanied by Blaine. When he was still living with his parents, he and I would do barn chores together, and we have memories in his barn I will forever cherish, one specific memory being it is the location where he asked me to be his wife.
I think a lot of folks have misconceptions about cows, so to clear the air I thought I would share with you some facts about them. This information comes from four-paws.org.
- “Cows have … a visual field of 330° almost an all-around view. They can see the colours yellow, green and blue whereas red is hard to see for them.1
- The natural life expectancy of a cow is around twenty years. Some get up to 25 years old. The age of a cow can be determined by looking at its teeth. Also, the number of rings in its horns draws conclusions about the age. In the dairy industry, cows usually don’t become older than five years.2
- Cows don’t need much sleep. Per day they only sleep around 30 minutes in deep sleep that is divided in 6-10 short periods. Nevertheless, the are lying up to 10 hours daily.3
- Cows have a strong sense of smell. They can perceive smells at a distance of up to ten kilometres.4
- Compared to the hearing of humans, the hearing ability of cows is better in the deep and high frequency ranges.4
- Cows are moving constantly during grazing and can cover 13 km per day.5
- Cows are very social animals. They live in small herds of 20-30 animals and form close friendships with other animals in their herd. Licking each other reinforces relationships between the animals and has a relaxing effect.6
- Cows drink daily up to 100 litres. That almost complies with a whole bathtub of water.7
- Pregnancy lasts nine months, just like with human beings. Cows only give milk when they have a calf.8
- Besides the ‘mooing’ cows use their body language, such as the position of the head, limbs and tail, as well as facial expressions, in order to communicate,9” the web page explains.
There you are, my friends.
ontheedgeofeverything 
