How does a cow produce milk?
Milk production begins with the cow. A mature cow eats, on average, 50 pounds of silage and drinks 25 to 50 gallons of water a day. A cow initially chews just enough to swallow. The food goes into the first chamber (called the rumen) of its four-part stomach. Later, the cow burps up small amounts of food and chews it again. The food then goes into the next chamber (reticulum) before passing through the final two chambers (abomasum and omasum), where bacteria and stomach acids work on it. Food provides cows with protein, energy, vitamins, minerals, and bulk. It is also the raw material that makes milk. However, to begin producing milk, a cow must first give birth. The hormones released at birth and the sucking of the calf stimulate the cow to lactate (produce milk) for her calf. Cows produce the greatest amount of milk right after they give birth. If a cow is not milked, she will stop producing milk. Milk is made and stored in the cow’s udder, which is divided into four separate quarter
