The Life-Cycle of a Dairy Cow
Lesson Plan
Purpose: To teach students the life cycle of the dairy cow and how
we receive milk from the dairy cow.
Objective:
1. The students will acquire the knowledge needed to understand the life
cycle of the a dairy cow;
2. The students will differentiate between the different stages of life a cow
goes through,
3. The students will describe a 365 day cycle for a dairy cow, and
4. The students will describe why a cow can be called the ultimate
recycler.
Teks/Taks:
TEKS- 119.88 Animal Production 2(B)
119.62 Animal Science 4(A)(B)
TAKS- English 1(7) Algebra 9 (8.3)(B)
Biology 1(2)(C) English 1(6)(B) Biology 2(6)(A) Biology 1(2)(C)
Focus:
1. What details can you tell me about a dairy cow?
2. How is milk produced?
3. What does a cow consume to produce milk?
4. What other products does the cow give us besides milk?
Utilize
Lesson Content: power
point
I. A Calf is Born
1. The calf weighs 90 to 100 lbs
2. The calf is fed colostrum (Mother’s first milk, which contains
antibodies).
3. At three days the calf is fed milk replacer
4. At 4-8 weeks the calf is weaned from milk
II. Six-Month-Old Heifer
1. The heifer is fed silage, hay, and grain
2. The heifer weighs around 400 lbs
3. The dairy farmer wants the heifer to gain 1.6 to 1.8 pounds per
day.
III. Yearling Heifer
1. This heifer is called a yearling because she is over a year old.
2. She still has a lot of growing to do before she enters the milking
herd.
IV. Two-Year-Old
1. This is what dairy farmers call a first-year heifer
2. This means that she has just had her first calf
3. She is producing milk.
4. She weighs approximately 1,200 lbs.
V. Mature Cow
1. The average weight is 1,500 lbs
2. She has just had her fourth calf
3. She can eat over 100 lbs a day and produce 12 gallons per day in
early lactation.
VI. Yearly Cycle of a Dairy Cow:
_____________________________365 days___________________________
↓Calving Calving↓
↑ 0-100 days↑ ↑Mid Lactation ↑ ↑Late Lactation↑
Breeding 100 – 200 days 200- to dry off
VII. The Ultimate Recycler
1. Cows: They can digest things that we cannot digest, such as
cottonseed hulls and type-two corn. She can also dispose of bakery
goods, cookies, breads, dough, and other products that we can no
longer consume.
2. Clean Up After Us: See the
1. The cows of America clean up the things that we cannot and help Bonus
prevent placing unnecessary consumables in landfills. section for
2. They can consume cookies that hit the floor in factories, bread that a tour of
is not good any more or has hit the floor of the factories. Back to
Nature
3. They also consume pizza dough that we can no longer consume. Recycled
Just by doing this small thing they help our environment. Feeds.
4. They also consume a large amount of leftovers from our favorite
restaurants. (i.e.- fast food)
3. Cleaning up our environment:
1. Cattle are ruminants, which allow them to consume a wide variety
of feed types and still create energy for milk development.
2. They consume leftover food that we would dispose of that is still
in good condition.
3. These products would break down in our land fills, but they are
broken down faster in the cow’s stomach.
4. Primary Dairy Cattle Feeds: See the
Modern
a) The primary components of a typical dairy ration are Dairy Tour
corn, green chop, alfalfa, cotton seed, and corn. to watch a
ration
b) The utilization of recycled bakery goods is a concept being
mixed.
which is gaining popularity.
Click on
c) Most rations include around five different ingredients. the Internet
links in the
Power
VIII. Dairy cows produce several products Point to
learn more
1. They produce meat that we consume in order to keep our bodies about
healthy. Dairy
2. Milk is also a product that we receive from dairy cows. Drinking Rations.
milk helps keep us healthy and our bones strong.
3. The cow also produces manure which is used to fertilize crops.
IX. Review:
1. What do most dairy cows weigh when they are born?
2. At what age can a dairy cow begin milk production?
3. What do cows do for the environment?
4. What are three things that cows produce for us?
Guided Practice:
In this guided practice we will be reviewing to see what the class has learned.
Take about twenty note cards and create questions of your choice from the
lesson. Place them on the note cards, and place the answer on the back if you
desire. Then ask the students the questions, keeping track of the questions that
the students can not answer. This allows you to go over the unknown
questions with the students and see what may not have been clear in the lesson.
You can also reward the students as you go along with this exercise, this helps
positively reinforce the learning process.
Independent Practice:
The students are to go home and find a package of bread, cookies, or other
bakery product. Once they find the product that they are going to use, they
will look for the nutrition panel and they will write down all the nutrients on
the package. Then ask them to find what they think the cows can use and also
record this as well. They will then turn them in at the teacher’s discretion.
List of Materials:
1. Note cards
2. Power Point
3. Projector
4. Computer
5. Rewards
6. Instructions for the independent practice
References:
1. Dairy Farmers
2. Earth Wise Recycling