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baby cow is a calf.
Its father is a bull. Its mother is a cow.
Cows eat grass and make milk.
We get milk from cows.
We also get meat and leather from cattle.
When there are many cows together, they are called cattle.
A large group of cattle is called a herd of cattle.
There are about 800 different breeds ( kinds) of cattle. Some kinds are farmed because they make lots of milk and others because they are good for meat.
Dairy cattle
Some cattle farms are called dairy farms.They produce milk. They keep the kinds of cows that give a lot of milk.
A cow makes milk inside a part of her body called udders. Cows are milked twice a day.
Machines pump the milk out of the cows' udders.
The milk is cooled and taken in big tankers to a factory.
In the factory, the milk is heated to kill germs. The milk is put into bottles or cartons and taken to shops so we can buy it.
Cow's milk has a watery part and a thicker part called cream. Sometimes the cream is mixed through the milk before it is bottled or put in a carton. Sometimes the cream is taken out and put into bottles and taken to shops to be sold separately. Milk without cream is called skim milk. It is put into bottles and cartons and taken to shops.
Some milk is made into cheese.
Some milk is made into butter. The milk is shaken until it turns into butter.
Some milk is made into yoghurt.
Beef cattle
Some farms grow cattle for meat. Different kinds of cattle are raised to give us meat. The meat is called beef. The cattle are sold and killed, and the meat is sold to be put in shops to be sold.
Cattle Life cycle
Male cattle are called bulls, females are cows. Their young are calves. When a bull and a cow mate, sperm from his body enters the cow's body and makes an egg inside her body grow into a calf. After mating with a bull a cow is pregnant for about 9 months before giving birth to the calf. The calf drinks milk from its mother's udders.
Cows are ready to mate and have young when they are about 9 months old.
For information about all the different breeds of cattle, go here: http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/
Go to other kidcyber farm pages:
| goats | horses & donkeys | pigs | chickens, ducks, geese | sheep |
| farm machines | grain crops | fruit farms | special farms | vegetable farms |
If you use any of this information in your own work, write it in your notes like this:
Thomas, R. & Sydenham, S. Farms: Cattle [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2001)
Updated March 2010 © kidcyber