Fun Facts

Milk Facts

The best sources of calcium are milk, yogurt and cheese. About 72% of the calcium in the U.S. food supply comes from dairy foods.

99% of all U.S. households purchase milk. The average American consumes almost 25 gallons of milk a year.

Calcium in soy milk is not as readily available for the body to use as it is in the milk from cows.

1 cup of milk has the same amount of calcium as 3 1/2 cups of broccoli.

Flavored milk offers kids a package of essential nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamin D.

Cows as Milk Producers

Cows have been called "the foster mothers of the world."

Each well-fed cow produces an average of about:

3 gallons of milk in one milking

9 gallons of milk per day

2,730 gallons of milk in a year

It takes:

21 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of butter

12 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of ice cream

Cow Eating Habits

Cows have a unique digestive system that includes 4 stomachs

They swallow food quickly without chewing it well and store it in their first and second stomachs called the rumen and reticulum.

After she has eaten her fill, she will burp up a small portion of the food she has stored in her first and second stomach. This small portion of food is called cud. She will then chew this cud and then swallow it to her third stomach called the omasum.

After that the food leaves her third stomach it enters her fourth stomach, called the abomasums, where digestion occurs.

Cows spend about 6 1/2 hours eating per day and eat about 90 pounds of food in that time.

It takes about 2 days for a cow to process her food into milk.

Cow Statistics

Cows are large animals. The following statistics are given for the average Holstein.

 

Height - 5 1/2 feet

Weight - 1400 Pounds

Body Temp. - 101.5 degrees F

Weight of Udder - 25 to 60 pounds

Milk held in the udder - 25 to 50 pounds.