Industrial Animal Agriculture &
Farmed Animals’ Welfare
Cattle
Cattle are highly social animals, with apparently complex social systems and hierarchies in place. Male cattle are called bulls and females are called heifers. Females are referred to as cows after they have given birth to their first calf.
Cattle seem to have preferences for spending time with (e.g. grooming) certain individuals over others. They seem to form bonds akin to friendships with other individuals. In the wild they live in herds of both males and females of different ages. They are nomadic, wandering large distances in search of grazing. A cow will usually give birth to one calf a year, who will naturally wean himself or herself from the mother’s milk at around 8-10 months of age. Calves maintain strong bonds with their mothers for many years.
Those who have worked with cattle often report that individuals have distinct personalities, for example some are shy, some bold, some are adventurous. They can be extremely affectionate towards each other and towards humans. Many cattle appear to enjoy running and jumping, especially when the sun is shining.
A bull or cow can live for over 20 years.
Much research has been conducted on the emotional lives of cattle, and the conclusion is that cattle probably experience a wide range of emotions.
This article shares some interesting details about the emotional lives of cattle.
Rescued dairy cows express the natural behaviour of grooming each other. Cows appear to form close friendships.
Credit: Tom Wooland, We Animals Media.
Cattle as a food source
Cattle have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years not only for their meat, but also for their milk, leather and as a draught animal. Cattle are believed to have originally been domesticated from the aurochs, a wild bovine species, in the vicinity of the current countries of Turkey and Pakistan around 10,000 years ago.
Most selective breeding of cows for milk took place in European countries. Brown Swiss cows are widely accepted as the oldest dairy cattle breed. The black and white cows that many people associate with dairy are a breed that was created by crossing black cows from the Batavians (present-day Germany) and white animals from the Friesians (present-day Holland), to create a new breed of cattle that could produce a high yield of milk on limited feed.
Cattle raised for their meat are referred to as “beef cattle”, while those raised for their milk are called “dairy cattle”. In the past there was less distinction between dairy cattle and beef cattle, with the same breeds used for both milk and meat. However, in the developed world today, farmers generally keep either beef or dairy cattle.
Beef cattle in Bali. Credit: Vanessa Li / We Animals Media.
A dairy cow. Credit: Havva Zorlu / We Animals Media.