Our son recently went to a dairy and beef cow farm and learned quite a bit.
- One of the questions he was dying to ask was how the cows remain warm in the winter.
He wanted to know if they needed access to a heating system or what. He was surprised when he learned that cows do not require heating systems as they have their own built-in heating through their digestive process. Cows core temperature is 101 degrees fahrenheit, so they actually prefer temperatures between 40-60 degrees fahrenheit. They can handle cold temperatures, ice, and wind. The only time it becomes problematic for the cows is if they don’t have access to shelter that is dry. You will want to make sure their bedding is fresh and dry in the winter, especially if it rains and then freezes, this can be very stressful for the cows. Other than that, as long as they are eating regularly in the winter, they are able to generate enough heating energy to be entirely cozy in the winter months. This was all very interesting information to learn. It was cool to learn how cows need enough space since there is a hierarchy in the group. The higher order in the hierarchy will always eat first followed by the subordinates. I guess that’s just a natural part of life in the world, even with the animals in the world. Our son was saying that sometimes he wishes he had built in heating like the cows do. While we are warm blooded, we don’t get as warm as cattle do when they are ingesting food, and our son says that would be amazing if we had that going on. We might not even need heating systems in the winter.