Life-Cycle of Dairy Cattle
Focus
What details can you tell me about a dairy
cow?
How is milk produced?
Why do we need milk for our bodies?
What other things do dairy cows give us?
A Calf Is Born
The calf weighs 90-100 lbs at
birth.
The calf is immediately fed
colostrum, which is the
nutrient-rich first milk
produced by a cow.
At 3 days the calf is fed milk
replacer
At 4-8 weeks the calf is
weaned from milk
Six-Month-Old Heifer
The heifer is fed silage,
hay, and grain.
The heifer weights
around 400 lbs.
The dairy farmer wants
the heifer to gain 1.6 to
1.8 pounds per day.
Yearling Heifer
This heifer is called a
yearling because she is
over a year old.
She still has a lot of
growing to do before she
enters the milking herd.
Two-Year-Old
This is what dairy farmers
call a first-year heifer.
This means that she has
just had her first calf.
She is producing milk.
She weights 1,200 lbs.
Mature Cow
The mature cow weighs
approximately 1,500 lbs.
She has just had her 4th calf.
She can eat over 100 lbs a
day and produces 12 gallons
of milk each milking in
early lactation
Life of a Dairy Cow
365 Days
Calving Calving
0-100 100-200 Days 200-Dry
Days Mid-Lactation Late
Breeding Lactation
Lactation & Calving Cycle
The Ultimate Recycler
She can digest things that we can not or
things we have no use for
Consumption of Excess
Human Foods
The cows of America
clean-up after us.
They consume
cookies that hit the
floor in factories
Baked Goods
They Consume
baked goods that
are not of the
quality that the
public would
consume.
Dough
They consume left-
over pizza dough that
would otherwise be
sent to landfills.
Leftovers
They consume
leftovers from our
favorite restaurants.
Cleaning-Up Our Environment
Dairy cattle work to
help keep our
environment clean by
simply consuming
products that might
end-up in landfills.
A Typical Dairy Ration
Typical Ration:
Many of the
recycling rations
mentioned earlier
are gaining
popularity.
Traditional Rations
The primary components
of a ration are corn, green
chop, alfalfa, cotton seed,
corn, and some dairy
producers may add the
bread products.
Most rations include
around five different
ingredients.
Dairy Ration Feed Stuffs
Dairy Feed Links
Testing Livestock Feeds
Purina Mills
Using Commodity Feeds In Dairy Rations
Beef
Dairy cattle are also
a very large source
of beef.
Milk
They make milk
for us to drink to
help keep our
bodies strong.
Forage Crops
Picture of plants
Cow manure is a rich
fertilizer that can be
applied to crops in
many forms.
Review
What do most dairy cows weigh when they
are born?
At what age can a dairy cow begin milk
production?
What can cows do to help our environment?
Name some products that cows produce for
us?