How much food does a cow eat?
Even though the average dairy cow weighs about 590 kg (1300 lbs), you may think it looks skinny because its bones stick out. But it’s not underfed – a cow eats tonnes of food each year. It’s true! You won’t believe the food an average cow eats in a day; 4 kg of hay (about the size of a small microwave), 16 kg of silage (about half of a child’s backyard swimming pool), 10 kg of mixed grains, salt, vitamins and minerals (2½ ice cream pails full) and 60 litres of water (2/3 of a standard bathtub). The reason why cows have very little fat on their bodies is because most of the food they eat is turned into milk instead of muscle or fat.
