Dairy Cattle

Consider the headline and the subtitle of the text. What do you know about the topic?

Do you consider keeping dairy cattle very profitable?

Read the text to find out:

- what housing conditions for dairy cattle are;

- how long a period of gestation lasts.

I. Dairy cattle. Dairy cows are cattle cows (adult females). Farmers breed them to produce large quantities of milk from which people make dairy products. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus.

Historically there was little distinction between dairy cattle and beef cattle. People used the same stock for both meat and milk production. Today farmers specialize in dairy cows and breed them to produce large volumes of milk. Between 1959 and 1990 the US milk production doubled while the number of beef cattle declined.

One may find dairy cows in herds on dairy farms where farmers own, manage, care for and collect milk from them. Dairy cow herds range in size from small farms of fewer than five cows to large herds of about 20,000. The average dairy farmer in the United States manages about one hundred cows. Herd sizes are different around the world and depend on landholding culture and social structure. In many European countries the average herd size is well below 50cows. In the UK it is over 100 cows in New Zealand 350 cows and Australia 280 cows.

To maintain high milk production a dairy cow must produce calves. Then the farmer keeps female calves (heifers) with dairy breeding as replacement cows for the dairy herd. If a replacement cow turns out to be a substandard producer of milk she then goes to market and can be killed for beef. Male calves can be used later as a breeding bull or sold and used for veal or beef. Most dairy farmers begin breeding heifers at fifteen months. A cow's gestation period is approximately nine months, so most heifers give birth at around two years of age.

II. Milk production levels. A cow will produce large amounts of milk

over her lifetime. Certain breeds produce more milk than others; however, different breeds produce from 15,000 to 25,000 pounds of milk per lactation. The average for dairy cows in the US in 2005 was 19,576 pounds.

Production levels peak at around 40 to 60 days after calving. Then a dairy farmer breeds the cow. Production declines steadily afterwards until at about 305 days after calving the cow is 'dried off' and milking ceases. About sixty days later one year after the birth of her previous calf a cow will calve again. High production cows are more difficult to breed at a one year interval.

Dairy cows may continue to be economically productive for many lactations. Ten or more lactations are possible.

Herd life strongly correlates with production levels. Lower production cows live longer than high production cows, but may be less profitable. If a cow gives not enough milk the owner may send the cow to slaughter. Meat of such cows is of relatively low value.

(http://en.wikipedia.org)

Practice 1. Look through the text to find out who this text is intended for:

1) general reader;

2) students in animal husbandry;

3) professional zoo technicians.