The cows come into the barn during bad weather or to rest in the shade. Bedded areas are called free stalls. Cows are social animals. They will follow each other into and out of the barn.

Dairy cows use their tails like giant flyswatters. The cows pictured here are holstein cows. Some other dairy breeds of cattle are Jersey, Guersey, Ayrshire, and Brown Swiss.

Dairy cows eat high quality hay like alfalfa, a plant food which can not be digested by humans to produce high quality milk which can be digested by humans in the form of ice cream, cheese, milk & yogurt. There are around 81,000 dairy cows in North Carolina.

Cows don't have teeth in the upper front portion of their mouth, instead they have a dental pad (hard plate). However, they do not have any problem consuming 40 pounds of food per day. The age of a cow can be determined by their teeth.

Continue on to page 2 of the Milking Parlor

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