Cow ‒ External Anatomy

Cows are ruminant mammals that produce most of the milk people drink. Contrary to the public belief they have just one stomach with four compartments that allow them to digest plant matter that would normally be indigestible. More than 50 liters of saliva per day they produce and 100-200 liters of water they drink are helping them with the process. Cows firstly swallow their food without much chewing and later regurgitate a cud which is then chewed well and swallowed again. They spend 8 hours of the day by feeding. Cows don´t see some colors well and in bullfighting, it is the movements of the red flag rather than its color that irritates the bull. The gestation period is as long as human pregnancy – 9 months. Cows have an excellent sense of smell and can smell for miles away. Estimated global cow population is over 1 billion animals.