Why are cows so important to the farmer?
Because they are raised for meat (beef and veal), leather and milk. They produce most of the milk that people drink.

What kind of an animal is the cow?
A cow is a ruminant mammal like sheep, goats, oxen, antelopes, giraffes, camels and many others.

What does cattle mean?
Cattle is the general term for cows, oxen, and also other domesticated animals farmed for their meat, milk, skins and sometimes as draught animals (pulling carts, plows and the like). Cattle raised for human consumption are called "beef cattle".

What is an ox?
It is the adult, castrated male. Oxen are mainly used as draught animals.

What is a bull?
It is an intact (uncastrated) cattle male.

What is a calf?
Calf is the name of a young cattle.

What dairy products can we obtain from milk?
Various types of cheese, butter, yogurt and other dairy products like cream. These are all a good source of calcium.

How are cows and other cattle usually raised?
They are taken to large areas of open land and put out to graze tender grass and clover, which they chew roughly and send to the first chamber of their stomach. It's due to their peculiar way of digestion that cows, as well as other animals like sheep and goats, are called ruminants. Under cold and wet winter conditions, cattle usually stay in the barn and are fed on hay, which is grass that has been mown and dried for fodder.

What is a Moo?
It is the deep sound of cattle! It is the cow's voice.

What is milking?
Milking is the action of obtaining milk from cattle. Cows are milked every day, either by hand or by machine. Modern farms use machine milking.

What milk cow breeds do you know?
Holsteins, the black and white European breed, the typically British Jerseys, and the two well-known Portuguese breeds Barrosã and Mirandesa.

What is a herd?
A herd is a large group of cattle.

What is the ancestor of the domestic cow?
Cows most likely descend from the aurochs, which is also the ancestor to both European cattle and the humped zebu.

What does the expression "till the cows come home" mean?
Well, it means for an indefinitely long time... then, not very likely to happen.

Should you like to see a huge collection of cow photos, go to this website.