Facts About Animals on Farms: Done by Lisa Ramdath, Angelicia Nicholas and Leah Baksh

Farm animals are important sources of food, milk and wool.

Facts about Cows

		Cows are referred to as the foster mothers of the human race because they produce most of the milk that people drink.


Dairying has improved through the years. Today, one cow can produce the milk that it once took 10 cows to produce. Around 9.2 million cows are being milked on 110,000 farms. More than 99% of all dairy farms are family owned and operated.
Cows are milked for an average of 3-4 years. A cow must have a calf in order to produce milk. Calves are fed milk until they are 8-9 weeks old.
	The average cow is 2 years old when she has her first calf. Calves are fed milk until they are 8-9 weeks old. A young female cow is called a heifer.
Before milking machines were invented in 1894, farmers could only milk about 6 cows per hour. Today, farmers use machines to milk more than 100 cows per hour.

	Dairy cows provide 90% of the world's milk supply. The best cows give over 25 gallons of milk each day. That's 400 glasses of milk! U.S. cows give an average of 2,000 gallons of milk per year. That's over 30,000 glasses of milk!
Contrary to popular belief, cows do not have 4 stomachs; they have 4 digestive compartments:

Cows have 32 teeth: · 8 incisors on the bottom front · 6 molars on the top and bottom of each side · A tough pad of skin instead of teeth on the top front Facts about Goats

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Lifespan: 10-18 years

Size: 54-77kg

Goats are social animals, however unlike sheep, who they are closely related to, they are not flock- oriented.

Goats communicate with each other by bleating. They are very close to their mothers and are weaned after six months. Goats are intelligent and curious animals. They also have excellent coordination and great balance. Goat milk is also high in calcium.

Facts about Pigs

· Pigs are intelligent animals.

· Like humans, pigs are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals.

· A pig’s snout is an important tool for finding food in the ground and sensing the world around them.

· Pigs have an excellent sense of smell.

· There are around 2 billion pigs in the world.

· Humans farm pigs for meat such as pork, bacon and ham.

· Wild pigs (boar) are often hunted in the wild.

· In some areas of the world, wild boars are the main source of food for tigers.

· Feral pigs that have been introduced into new areas can be a threat to the local ecosystem.

· Pigs can pass on a variety of diseases to humans.

· Relative to their body size, pigs have small lungs.

Facts about Chickens

Type: Bird

Diet: Herbivore and insecticide

Lifespan: Up to 10 years

Size: Up to 70 cm in length (Males are bigger than females)

Weight: Around 2.5kg ( Males are heavier than females)

Scientist have shown that mother hens display signs of empathy for their baby chicks

Chickens are able to remember and recognise over 100 individuals; they can also recognise humans

Chickens perform complex communication where calls have special meanings. They perform over 30 types of vocalization that we are aware of with meanings varying from calling youngsters, alarm calls and alerting others to the whereabouts of food.

Chickens can’t taste sweetness in foods however they can detect salt and most choose to avoid it.

The meat and eggs of chickens are widely eaten by many.

Farm Animals Pictures