How were/are cows be able to survive in the wild

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Everything I hear how cow farmers need to take care of their stock baffles me more and more how these were able to survive for so long

A cow needs to be milked every certain period to avoid infections, bruising, death

A cow needs help with the birth of a calf, as its sometimes a process which cant be done by a cow itself

A cow builds up gasses in their stomachs, requiring punctures to avoid sickness, death

And not to mention the parasites, specific diets, and maybe some other things I wouldn’t know about

In: Biology

47 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Cows produce milk in the same way and for the same reason human women do, to feed their young. In the wild a lactating cow would have a calf to drink it’s milk and stops producing milk when that milk stops getting drunk

The gas building up in the stomach is because farmers are feeding them corn and other things they wouldn’t eat in the wild in attempt to make them bigger. That is not so common in cows that only eat grass.

Modern cows have been selectively bred by humans according to the characteristics we want (which in beef cattle means size), cattle’s wild ancestors would have been slightly smaller and nature would have continued to naturally select for calves that could be easily birthed.

Sickness can and does kill wild animals but it is much more common on farms and feed lots because they cram such a large number of animals together in unhygienic conditions. Wild herds of ruminants would be constantly moving in the search for grass, instead of standing shin deep in shit in the same field all their life.

Tldr: humans create most of the problems they need to solve when it comes to animal husbandry.

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