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Why Are Dairy Cows Skinny?


Meet Reba, one of the Holsteins on our dairy farm. I was recently asked why Reba was so skinny. Reba is a dairy cow, not a beef cow. Reba and her herd mates are fed a ration, which is balanced by their own personal nutritionist, which is designed for milk production. The reason you can see her ribs is not because she is malnourished or underfed. When this photo was taken of Reba she was producing over 110 pounds of milk a day. To produce that much milk, she has to eat a lot. Believe me this, this girl can eat. A mature milk cow will eat over 100 pounds of feed a day.

A milk cows feed ration is designed for milk production but to also help maintain her weight. Notice I didn’t say gain weight. When dairy cows have big weight fluctuations it is hard on their metabolic systems and problems arise. Ketosis and fatty liver syndrome can be deadly.

A cow will also have natural weight variances due to how she is milking. Cows who have calved (gave birth to a calf) more recently tend to be thinner because they are producing more milk. Cows about ready to go dry (their vacation prior to calving) tend to be heavier because they are milking less. They are also 7 months pregnant at this time so some “baby weight” is expected.

Most beef cows are fed to maintain their weight and produce enough milk for their calf to eat. They are also bred to be a heavier animal, hence why we use them for meat. Dairy cows are bred to produce milk. This requires different body types thus the dairy cow would be thinner.

Genetics also play a role. Just as some people are heavy and some people are thin, cows are the same way. Reba was bred to be a cow exhibited at shows. We want her to appear fit and angular (a little ribs showing). Think of it this way, she was selectively bred to be a model. People picked her skinny genes for her. Why was I not this lucky? In the above picture she is also all shiny and styled for a cow show. This means she’s had a hair cut, her udder is full of milk to show how large it is and she has had a shiny spray put on her to make her hair coat very pretty. She is essentially all dolled up to go to town.

So what’s Reba look like on an every day basis?

Reba in her "work clothes" after just leaving the milking parlor. Empty udder, no shiny spray, no fancy hair cut. Just a cow enjoying a sip of water.

Our dairy cows are thinner because their job is to make milk, not meat. Due to specified ration, milk production and genetics they appear more thin than your average beef cow. This doesn’t mean they are not healthy. If a cow is not a healthy, well cared for animals they don’t produce milk.

Source: Ask The Farmers


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