 THE CATTLE BARN!
Cows &Cattle are among the most important farm animals. People eat the meat of cattle as roast beef, veal, hamburger, and hot dogs. People drink the milk of cattle and use it to make butter, cheese, and ice cream. The hides of cattle provide leather for shoes. Cattle also furnish materials for such useful items as medicines, soap, and glue. In some countries, cattle supply power by pulling plows, carts, and wagons. In some parts of the world, a family's wealth is judged by the number of cattle it owns.
All kinds of cattle have large bodies, long tails, and cloven (divided) hoofs. Some cattle have horns. Cattle chew their food two separate times to digest it. After they chew and swallow the food, they bring it up from the stomach and chew it again. This once-swallowed food is called a cud.
Cattle are less intelligent than many other domestic animals. People sometimes name them. But cattle rarely learn to respond to their names as horses and dogs do.
Cattle roam and graze in green pastures and on the plains. Their mooing, or lowing, often breaks the silence of the countryside. Beef cattle are raised for their meat. Dairy cattle are raised for their milk. Dual-purpose cattle provide both meat and milk.
People around the world raise cattle. Cattle live in cold lands, such as Canada and Iceland, and in hot countries, such as Brazil and India. Hindus in India believe cattle are holy animals. They do not kill cattle or eat beef.
The word cattle usually means cows, bulls, steers, heifers, and calves. A cow is a female, and a bull is a male. Steers are males that have had some of their reproductive organs removed. A young cow is called a heifer until she gives birth to a calf. A calf is a young heifer or bull. The mother of a calf is called a dam, and the father is a sire. A group of cattle is known as a herd.
Beef cattle and dairy cattle that can be traced through all their ancestors to the original animals of a breed are called purebred. A registered animal is one whose family history has been recorded with the appropriate breed association in its register, called a herdbook.
M. Peter Hoffman, " Cattle " World Book Online Reference Centre,
http://www.worldbookonline.com/ar?/na/ar/co/ar100720.htm, January 9, 2004
COW BOOKS!
COW CALENDERS!
COW GIFTS!
COW POSTERS!
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