Not long ago cattle were used for many purposes including meat, milk, and labor. Today beef cattle are raised primarily to provide people with meat, and hundreds of useful by-products. Most cattle graze on grassland that is steep, hilly, dry or rocky and not suitable for building houses or growing crops. The main reason cattle are raised in different climates and settings all over the world is because they can thrive on low quality rangeland feed and grasses.

At first glance, cows might seem to be simple animals, but they’re not! Cows are fascinating animals. For instance did you know that cows can smell something up to 6 miles away, or that cows can produce 125 lbs. of saliva in one day. Here are more cattle facts for you to know!

Cattle are descended from a wild ancestor called the aurochs.

The aurochs were huge animals which originated on the subcontinent of India and then spread into China, the Middle East, and eventually northern Africa and Europe. Aurochs are one of the animals painted on the famous cave walls near Lascaux, France. People started domesticating aurochs between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago. Cattle were domesticated after sheep, goats, pigs, and dogs.

Cattle were first brought to the western hemisphere by Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493.

Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez took offspring of those same cattle to Mexico in 1519. In 1773, Juan Bautista de Anza brought 200 head of cattle to California to supply the early California missions.

Cattles Amazing Stomachs Cattle are ruminants.

This means they have one stomach with four separate compartments. Their digestive system allows them to digest plant material by repeatedly regurgitating it and chewing it again as cud. This digestive process allows cattle to thrive on grasses, other vegetation, and feed. A cow chews its cud for about eight hours a day. When an animal chews its cud it is a sign of health and contentment. Other ruminant animals include deer, elk, sheep, and goats.

The main stomach of a cow, the rumen, holds up to 50 gallons of food that has been partially digested.

To put that in perspective, a bathtub can usually hold 30-50 gallons of water.

All “cows” are female.

Males are called bulls or steer. Before having a calf for the very first time, a female is called heifer. Once she has her first calf, she becomes a cow.

The Origin Of The Word Cattle Stems From The Word For Personal Property.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the origin of cattle is chatel, the Anglo-French word for personal property. Chatel comes from the Medieval Latin term capitale.

There are over 800 different cattle breeds recognized worldwide.

Beef breeds are raised for their meat and dairy breeds are raised to produce milk. At Clover Meadows Beef, we raise Angus-based cattle, which is a beef breed.

Cows can see almost 360 degrees.

This near-panoramic view lets them watch for predators from all angles. However, they don’t see well straight in front of them so they will typically turn their head to look at you.

Cows are considered sacred in Hinduism.

The cow and bull and ox had an important ritualistic function in Hinduism. Cattle were the chief sacrificial victims and the products of the cow were the oblation (havis). So, too, no other animal figures so frequently in simile or metaphor applied to a wide range of subjects - the phenomena of nature, such as dawn or rainfall or streams; deities both male and female, human beings, the paraphernalia of the sacrifice such as the stones for pressing out the soma, whose sound as they rub together may be spoken of as bellowing of bulls, or the soma drops offered in the sacrifice, which may be called bulls because of their power.

Cows have no upper front teeth.

They press their sharp bottom teeth against the top hard palate of their mouth to cut blades of grass.

Bulls can’t see red.

A bullfighter could just as easily wave a pink or purple flag to get a bull to charge. The bull isn't angered by the color—all bovines are red/green colorblind. Instead, it's the movement of the cloth that gets it all riled up. The real reason matadors wear red: to hide the bull's blood.

12. Cows are very social.

They don’t like to be alone. If one is isolated, it’s usually because she is sick or about to give birth.