Stupid question about cows - why do cows eat grass and what happens to it?

[danaeonyx]

This may sound like a stupid question... but why do cows eat grass and what happens to it? I was told in school that the grass goes through the cow's 4 stomachs then turns to milk, but I know that a cow has to be pregnant to lactate... please help, it's driving me crazy! Lol

[cobweb]

Well i suppose in a very basic way this is true!. The cow digests the grass through her stomachs and it turns to energy, just like any food source. She will only produce milk if she has a calf to feed, its pure lactation just like any other mammal. I think this can be prolonged though with the use of artificial hormones . When the calf is wrenched away from its poor mother after a couple of days to be slaughtered the cow is then artificially milked, the action of which then stimulates further milk flow.

It makes me mad just typing about it .

[RedWellies]

That's so funny, danaeonyx!!

Think of the grass as being the same as all the food you eat. Your body breaks it down to fulfill all it's needs...the same applies to cows. Yes, they have 4 stomachs, or sections to their stomach, but that just means they digest their food in different ways to us. It doesn't mean grass makes them produce milk any more than a female human would produce milk just from eating. See here for a simplified account (ignore the cr*p on the left!).

[danaeonyx]

Thanks! That explains what I thought. I just thought it was weird that the school told me that the grass turns into milk. Why would they say that? Maybe so I'd think it's natural?... Odd

[greenspex]

Because that's what cows are for - their sole function and purpose on this planet is to produce milk for humans! (and provide rotting carcasses for humans to gorge on).

It really does reflect that kind of attitude, doesn't it? (the milk bit, not the rotting carcasses bit - that's just me being gratuitous. Sorry!)