While people often think dairy cows are fed a high-grain diet, in reality they eat the leaves and stems from corn, wheat and oats far more often than they are eating grain, like corn kernels. Cows drink 30–50 gallons of water each day – a bathtub full. Photo: Farm Sanctuary What You Can Do x 600/day! Good bacteria in the rumen helps digest the cow’s food and provides protein for the cow. The main factor in how much a cow will eat depends on her milk production. As a group, participants will discuss and identity important feedstuffs of a dairy If you ate like a cow you would have to eat 360 cheeseburgers and drink 600 cartons of milk every day! What are the feed requirements of the milking cow? Cows treated with excessive amounts of dextrose do not eat because they have high blood sugar levels. • A cow can eat up to three suitcases full of hay (20 kilograms) and Each cow may drink between 80 and 160 litres of water a day. Deconstructing Dairy Cow Diets Overview: The What Do Cows Eat? Our research shows that 20% of what dairy cows eat in this country could be eaten by humans, but only 2.2% actually would be eaten,” he explained. Cows with fevers do not eat. If eating the meat of dairy cows seems like an obvious and economical old-world custom, one merely lost in the rise of quick-to-market factory farming of America, it’s surprisingly not. Deconstructing Dairy Cow Diets lesson is designed to add a visual and hands-on component to an important focus of understanding feed management, health and behavior of dairy cows. They primarily eat grass, but they feed on other things too, which helps to give good quality milk, and fatten them up for superior quality beef. Most of our cows are used for personal consumption for farm employees, family, friends and local charities. Daily rations are scientifically formulated according to the energy, protein and other nutritional needs of each animal. Grain: Dairy cows do eat some grain, which usually makes up less than one-quarter of their diet. 10. This includes pasture grass in the spring and summer months, or it can be chopped grass (silage). Our hardworking dairy farmers ensure that cows are given a quality, healthy diet in order to produce each glass of Canadian milk. This post will answer that very question, and also look at some interesting facts about cows. (9) Cows are highly sensitive, affectionate and gentle, forming deep friendships and family bonds. often in a meal Total Mixed Rations are like the casseroles we The cows also have constant access to fresh, clean water. What Do Cows Eat? (8) Their worn out bodies become ground beef and restaurant hamburgers. • Dairy cows give an average of 30 litres of milk per day. But what do cows eat? Quantity and quality are important. This post will answer that very question, and also look at some interesting facts about cows. Dairy cows are like athletes and do a great job converting feed into the energy they need for maintenance and milk production.