Dairy Cows

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Dairy Cows have been used by humans for thousands of years for their milk and meat, they were domesticated around 8,500 years ago and were introduced into New Zealand in around 1814. Since then cows have made a massive impact of the economy and meat & Dairy production. Today there are around 1.3 Billion cows worldwide. Left to live naturally, they live to between 15—20 years old. To live and produce good milk, Dairy cows require fresh grass and air. They function best living in open areas in small packs, as it allows them to be relaxed and stay reasonably fit. “Dairy cattle at all stages of their lives require food which is adequate to maintain their health, vigour,satisfactory growth, production and reproduction...The provision of an adequate supply of water is critical for maintaining dairy cattle health and welfare. The way in which daily water requirements are supplied varies between farms. Different classes of dairy cattle have wide variations for water needs during the year which, if not adequately fulfilled, can lead to rapid deterioration of animal health and welfare.”- Code of dairy cattle welfare issued under the animal welfare act 2010. Over time cows were used both for meat and milk, however, farmers found that specialising them and growing larger udders would be more of a benefit in milk production than trying to maintain their health to produce both. In 2006 New Zealand’s dairy cows produced 15,000 tonnes of milk. In the same year, we drank 90.0 Litres of Milk, 7.1 kgs of Cheese and 6.3 kgs of Cheese (per person, average). Overtime New Zealand diary cows have thrived in the climate and now the New Zealand owned dairy company, Fontera is one of the worlds largest companies. One of the main welfare issues with dairy c...

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...Mastitis, 1 syringe costs around $15 usd. This syringe can only serve 1 cow and although it is effective in turn incurs in large costs however is an essential in the health of the animal as stated in the code of animal welfare, 2010Animal welfare is a political issue that continuously keeps popping up and in 2010, the dairy cattle code of welfare was renewed and there were many different requirements that were added, food, water, environment and medical. Because New Zealand supposedly have the best dairy farming in the world, this code was important to put in place as we have a good reputation for natural dairy farming and with plans arising for factory farms in the Mackenzie basin, the issue was brought up by the green party. At the current time, a political review is going on around the price of milk and whether they are ‘ripping' the people of New Zealand off.

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