When a pregnant cow is giving birth , they lie down or stand up. After the mother gives birth, the calf is born. It usually pops out quickly out of the mother’s stomach. The calf is taken away from the mother and it is placed in a warm shed where other young calves are.
In the shed, the calves are always hungry. Some calves are greedy and want to be first to drink more milk than the other calves. As calves get older, they nibble on grass and mostly fed less milk. They also drink clean, fresh water.
Young calves have tiny horns. There horns are removed or disbudded by a hot iron. Cows are given injection to prevent infection. The calves will not grow sharp, dangerous horns because it is dangerous while playing with other calves. After the horns are removed, they can play happily in the field with other calves.
The farmers keep the best female calves for the best milking cows. Calves that are milked are called heifer and then kept as dairy cows. Each cow makes about 20,000 litres of milk. Farmers kill male cattles that makes beef. They save the best bull for breeding.
When getting milk from cows, people use machines and one person could make 650 cows in 2 hours. One person that uses hands to get milk makes about 12 cows in 2 hours.
About 35 million litres of milk a day are nearly produced by cows in New Zealand.
By: Raheal Mengistu
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