Cow chewing the Cud

by Yvonne Johnstone

Title

Cow chewing the Cud

Artist

Yvonne Johnstone

Medium

Photograph - Digitally Enhanced Photograph

Description

Cow chewing the cud on a warm and sunny summer afternoon.
When cattle first eat their food they chew it just enough to moisten and swallow it. Cows need to be comfortable and relaxed to chew their cud, and usually lie down to do it. They can lie down for very long periods of time, not to sleep, but just to chew their cud. Cud-chewing cows are generally healthier and will produce more milk or have a higher production of muscle.
Since cattle are “flight” animals meaning they run from danger, they don’t fight back; it is thought that the original reason for the double digestion was to let the animal eat as much as they could before needing to flee the area. Then they would bring the forage back up to properly digest it at a later, safer time. Cud chewing is also necessary because the foods ruminant animals eat are difficult to digest and it takes extra effort to get all of the nutrients from the food.

Uploaded

September 5th, 2021

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