Holstein cows are a breed that has existed for about two thousand years. Over the years, it has been working closely with humans. Holstein cows are a good source for breeders. Everything produced by Holstein cows benefits humans in one way or another. They provide milk, meat, leather, and manure.
Holstein cows are known for being milking machines, as they are been called. They always get first place in milk production, as they produce large quantities of milk up to 67,914 pounds of milk per 365 days!
Some families raise Holstein cows in many countries around the world. Where the family raises one or two cows to meet their needs and obtain additional revenue from their production.
However, the question that remains in the mind of many farmers and non-farmers, Are Holstein cow friendly enough to make a good pet? In this article, we’re checking the possibility of taking Holstein cows as pets. We’re also talking about its feelings and answering some of the most common question that you have.
Do Holstein Cows Make Good Pets?
Although there are no specific studies on this. But what is certain is that Holstein cows are known to be largely calm, gentle, and easy-to-handle cows.
Holstein cows can be raised in any type of breeding, whether pastures or farms. Therefore, you can raise them in any place available to you, whether a barn or a pasture, and take them as a pet due to the ease of dealing with them compared to other animals. So, all in all, we think Holstein cows are good pets.
Are Holstein Cows Friendly?
Yes, Although this largely depends on the character of the cow itself. As cows vary in their manners and behaviors, like humans and other animals. Holstein cows are individuals with multiple psychologies and distinct and separate personalities.
In general, Holstein is calm and friendly as long as the conditions around her are good, because the Holstein cows are delicate and luxurious. Holstein cows are intelligent creatures, although they are less intelligent than other dairy animals. They work easily in order to obtain food. You can also train it with traditional training systems that are used with other pets by a reward system, as it works well with Holstein cows.
In an experiment on cow emotions, researchers found that cows reacted well and became more excited when given a reward after completing a certain task. This indicates that the increased emotional arousal of cows was due to a sense of achievement and personal satisfaction after they became better at performing the task. This means that cows have a high degree of self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Social communication is also a characteristic that is clearly present in cows. Holstein Cows don’t like to be isolated, they are social personalities within the herd and with their owners. They have a high level of friendliness and cooperation between them and humans as well.
Do Holstein Cows Have Feelings?
Yes, Holstein cows have feelings, and not only them, but all cows have feelings and are able to communicate them to those around them. Cows vary in the degree of their feelings, from strong feelings to reasonable and sometimes weak feelings. Depending on the personality of each cow. But in any case, cows have more complex psychological reactions than some people imagine.
Cows have a high ability to sense those around them, so they can determine whether the person coming towards them is a source of safety for them or not. When you raise a Holstein cow from birth and be friendly with it, it becomes very friendly with you and it will be more social with you and with other humans in general.[1]
When you are friendly with your Holstein cow, it puts you in its safety zone, and as soon as the Holstein cow recognizes you, it will come towards you, hug you, and come down to you to get rewards and hugs.
5 Important Tips When Keeping Holstein Cows As Pets
We put together some tips for you to help through your journey with Holstein cows as pets. Here are 5 piece of advice that we think are crucial:
1. Females Are Better
Females are a better choice for you when you want to get a cow as a pet because they are calmer and easier to deal with than males. Male calves grow and become more naughty and may cause damage to your property and pose a danger to you and your family.
2. Housing
Cows are economical creatures that do not require much equipment to house them. Your cow can be kept in a simple box stall with room to roam because cows love to graze and roam very much.
3. Diet
Cows are churning animals that have a stomach with four separate chambers. They eat their food, then regurgitate it from their stomach to re-chew it. You have to supply them with grass, hay, and grains to meet their nutritional needs. Allocate a clean place to store their hay and other food stuffs so that they do not rot or spoil. Feeding them with hay or moldy grains is very harmful to them.
Related Articles:
- How Much Does A Holstein Cow Eat Per Day?
- What Do Holstein Cows Eat? 9 Things That You Should Feed To Your Cow!
4. Water
Water is very necessary for cows. Cows need to drink a large amount of water due to their large bodies. One cow can drink approximately 30 gallons of water per day. And their need for water increases with the temperature of the air with breastfeeding. Cows do not drink any water offered to them, but rather they avoid dirty sources. They only drink clean water. Therefore, you must provide them with clean sources of water every day.
5. Calves Care
When a new calf is born, you have to give it intensive care so that it grows well. Monitor its suckling from its mother and note whether it is gaining weight or not. If any circumstance occurs and you are forced to take the young cows from their mothers. You must feed them milk by bottle twice a day at least so that they do not experience a deficiency in the nutrients that the milk provides them with.
FAQs
Do Cows Feel Sad?
Yes, cows feel sad, not only sadness but also other negative feelings such as frustration and anxiety. The life of cows is not as nice as some imagine, as some may think that they are just animals who have no job but to eat and drink only.
This is not true at all. the life of cows is not devoid of painful events that leave a negative impact on themselves. causing a long-term emotional reaction as a result of what they were exposed to.
Traumatic events in a cow’s life are varied. They can be the result of physically painful actions such as removing the shell. Or other emotionally destructive events such as separating calves and mothers immediately after birth, which is a standard practice in Holstein and other dairy cows. Cows show signs of sadness and can identified, such as dropping the ears of cows and having more white in their eyes.
Can A Cow Cry?
There is no confirmed evidence about cow crying as it is customary in humans as a result of emotion, although some claim this and even make fake videos for that! Cows do not produce tears in their eyes as a result of emotion.
Cows’ eyes are usually moistened to combat dryness, and if there is an excessive spillage, this may be the result of infection. Instead of crying with tears, the cows express their feelings, and the important thing is to scream.
For example, when calves are removed from their mothers by force. They keep crying out for days on end, expressing their grief and hoping for the return of their calf. whom they hope to see and recognize its voice.
How Long Does A Holstein Live?
Holstein cows usually live from 4 to 6 years, this is not the standard age for Holstein cows. Where they are supposed to live much longer. They are expected to live from 13 to 20 years! But that is in natural conditions without interfering with the nature of their bodies and forcing them into a specific form of life to double production.
Holstein cows are artificially fertilized to continue the milk production cycle almost throughout the year. they are also provided with many medications that influence their physiology and hormones to obtain a huge production of milk.
Cows’ bodies respond to these stimuli and produce calves annually and huge amounts of milk. But she pays the price for that with her health. She turns into a milking machine that spends most of her life in milking rooms under the grip of milking machines. Which affects her general health and makes her body fragile and exposed to many health problems such as low fertility, mastitis, and lameness. Then it ends up being disposed of and slaughtered.
