The animal that I am researching is the cow. There are many interesting facts about this animal. There are five main breeds of cows. They are Holstein, Brown Swiss, Ayrshires, Jersey, and Guernseys. The Holsteins are the largest breed. Another interesting fact is that the most common disease cows get is Mastitis. This is where the utters inflate. Mastitis is caused by many different bacteria. Most breeds of cattle originated in places like Scotland, Switzerland, and Holland. Most cows are domestic, but there are still cows that wander free.

 

First, the cow has a basic description. It has four legs and its average weight is 1,000 to 1,500 pounds, it's size depends on the breed and it's age. The cow's coloration also depends on the breed of the cow. One thing you can use to identify a cow is it's utters. The utter is located between the hind legs. The cow also has a long snout.

 

Some people usually can't tell between a cow and a bull. A bull is usually bigger than a cow and can have long horns. This is the basic description of a cow. Second, the cow's habitat will differ depending on whether it is domestic or wild. Wild cows usually live in large pastures. Domesticated cattle usually live on farms or feedlots. Cattle are found in all parts of the world. Wild cows do well in their ecosystem. They stay together in their herds to stay away from predators and dangerous land.

 

Next, the cow's diet is usually hay, grain, or grass. Domestic cows are fed grain and hay. Wild cows usually eat grass. Domesticated cows don't have to compete for food, because they are fed by farmers. Wild cows don't often compete for food either. They usually graze with their herd. Another thing is that cows can be hunted by other animals. One predator is the coyote. Coyote packs live in the hills, and will attack a cow at night and kill it. They will either eat it there or take some meat and leave. Another predator that comes at night is wolves. Wolves usually live in more mountainous terrain. These predators attack wild cattle more often than domesticated cattle. The fences around feedlots and farms can keep out predators, but sometimes they get in.

 

India is the country with the most cattle. India has about 281,700,000 cattle. The United States is fourth in the world for the number of cattle. There are about 96,669,000 cattle in the United States. That is 9.71% of the cattle in the world. The number of cattle has been the same for the last few years. The cattle population could shrink. This is because feedlots are responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gases, which are not good for the environment.

 

Author: Mason T

Published: 02/2009

 

Sources: "Cattle -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 05 Feb. 2009 Weisburd, Claudia. Raising your own livestock. 1980